


There are more things in Heaven and Earth

by asamandra



Category: Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, M/M, Mermaid Clint, Mythical Beings & Creatures, it may be a little dark sometimes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-05
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-05-18 06:54:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 30,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5902759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asamandra/pseuds/asamandra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky is part of Steve's boat crew and when they are out on the sea fishing they capture something they didn't expect. And Bucky's life changes drastically...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Bucky!” Steve yelled through the house and banged with his fist against the staircase. “Bucky get up!” 

James groaned, rolled over and pulled the cushion over his head. He had just had a beautiful dream and then he was so rudely awakened. 

“Bucky, come on! The cod won’t wait for you and Sam called a few minutes ago, Rumlow is already on his boat,” Steve yelled again. With another groan James finally rolled out of his bed, glared murderously at the alarm clock beside his bed - 3.21 am, nine minutes before the alarm should go off - and reached for his pants. He went to the bathroom, threw a handful of water in his face and tied his long hair back into a bun before he slipped into a shirt. Barefoot with his socks in his hand he padded down to the kitchen where Steve handed him a cup of steaming hot coffee. James nodded thankfully and took a long sip. And while he sat down at the breakfast bar to put on his socks, Steve shoved a slice of toast with honey on it in his direction. He knew that James would be grumpy the whole day without food in the morning. 

Munching on his toast he put on his socks and when he was finished, he emptied the mug and put it in the sink. Steve had already filled their thermoses with coffee and waited impatiently beside the door. 

“Come on, Buck. Rumlow beat us the last three times to the big shoals. We need to be first this time!” Steve tapped his foot and pointed at his wristwatch. Brock Rumlow was Steve’s personal nemesis. He never told him what happened between the two of them but they hated each other wholeheartedly. James nodded again, yawned, grabbed his woolen sweater and the thick, waterproof jacket and followed Steve out of their house. He flopped into the passenger’s seat of the old, battered pick-up while Steve climbed behind the wheel and drove as fast as possible to the harbor where they had their boat. 

James closed his eyes for another few minutes and almost drifted asleep again. But Steve’s ungentle braking jolted him out of his slumber. 

“Damn it,” he heard the other man curse and looked up. Rumlow’s trawler, the ‘Hydra’, already left the harbor. “Come on, we need to hurry,” Steve said and jogged away to the ‘Sarah’s’ berth. Sam and Nat had readied the smaller trawler and James was the last one to get on it and with his thermos under his arm he went straight to cockpit and started the motor when Sam gave him the thumbs up. Technically it was Steve’s trawler but James always drove it. Steve said it was because he had the better instincts but James knew that Steve liked the work on deck better. And he was okay with it. Gently he steered the boat away from its berth and followed the ‘Hydra’ out to sea and James knew, once out of the harbor he could overhaul the other trawler. Maybe the ‘Hydra’ was bigger and newer but he himself had tuned the ‘Sarah’s’ engines and he knew that they were faster. And it didn’t take too long and they left the ‘Hydra’ behind them. 

He poured himself another cup of coffee while watching the radar to see when they would be close to the shoal of fish they knew should be here somewhere. When he heard the door he turned his head and saw Natasha enter the small cabin. 

“Morning, Buck,” she smirked and went to him to look over his shoulder at the radar. “Anything to see yet?” 

“No, but look at Sam,” he nodded with his chin at the man who stood beside Steve and leaned against the railing. “He’s sniffing the air, he can smell them already, we’re close.” James smirked. It was a common joke between the four of them because whenever Sam sniffed the air in a certain way they were close to the fish. And right on cue the radar made a sound. Natasha looked at it, raised a brow and shook her head with a smile. 

“We found them!” She yelled out of the window and both, Steve and Sam, waved in their direction and started to prepare the outriggers and the trawls. Natasha sighed, took James’ mug, emptied it and went to the door to help the two men. James watched the radar and led the boat to the shoal and when they were there he gave Steve the sign and they cast the trawls. 

James poured himself another cup of coffee while he led the boat through the fish so they could _swim_ into their nets. When he looked out of the windows he saw the ‘Hydra’ arrive, too, and they cast their trawls but the ‘Sarah’s’ was closer. And so it didn’t take much time and Steve waved in his direction, the nets were full to the brim. He pressed a button and the trawls were hauled in. Steve, Sam and Natasha were there to open them while James turned the boat around to bring them back to the harbor. The ‘Sarah’s’ was a small trawler and when their nets were full, the stowage would be full, too. 

He slurped his coffee, saw Brock Rumlow standing on deck and glaring murderously at them when they passed the ‘Hydra’ and he sloppily saluted in his direction when he heard Steve yell for him. James stopped the engines in a safe distance to the ‘Hydra’ and went down on deck as fast as possible. And stopped dead in his tracks only a second later. 

“Oh… my… god!” 

Struggling in their nets, between hundreds of cods, was a man. And that man had… a fishtail. He shrieked shrill, trilled and tried to get out of the net. 

“Get him out!” James was the first one to regain his composure. Sam hurried and fiddled with the nets but Steve shook his head, reached for his knife and went to the net. The man shrieked even more and struggled and got entangled worse. 

“Steve!” Natasha said warningly. 

“I know, I know, but it’s faster that way,” he said. They would have to repair their nets back in the harbor and till they were repaired, they couldn’t go out fishing. 

James jogged over to the struggling man, knelt beside the net and raised both hands in a soothing gesture. “Shh, nothing bad will happen. We’re going to help you,” he said but the man didn’t stop struggling. “Don’t struggle, we’re helping you,” he murmured quietly while Steve unceremoniously cut him out of the net. The man plopped onto the deck with a painful groan. James reached out to him but he used his fluke and his hands to move back as fast as possible. And he was really fast. 

He pressed his back against the railing and stared at them with wide eyes, full of fear. James hunkered down and raised his hands again, slow and carefully. But the man only slid away even more, shrieked and trilled and looked around frantically. And then he reached the part where the railing was lower and with an elegant flip he jumped over it and disappeared in the water. James, Steve, Sam and Natasha ran to the railing, too, but they couldn’t see the man anymore. 

“Okay, please tell me you’ve seen that, too,” Sam said after a very long moment and looked at them. 

“If I’m not drunk - and I never drink when I go fishing - we all have seen a mermaid,” Steve said and when Natasha opened her mouth, he added, “Or better, a merman.” 

“But…” Sam said, stopped, looked at all of them, opened his mouth, closed it and opened it again. “There are no mermaids, right? I mean, that’s all stories and stuff. They are not… not… real, right?” 

“This guy seemed quite real,” Natasha said. 

“They are mythical creatures, not… not real! I mean… mermaids? Really?” Sam removed his cap and ran a hand through his hair. 

“Technically, a merman,” James said and still stared at the water. He wasn’t sure but for a moment he thought he had seen something beneath the water surface. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Sam muttered. “But they don’t exist. We all know that they don’t exist, right?” 

“He seemed pretty real,” Natasha said again. 

“Oh my god! I’m… I’m dreaming. I’m still at home in my bed and I have a nightmare,” Sam mumbled. 

“Then we all have the same nightmare and that would be really disturbing,” James muttered and looked at the water surface again. It seemed as if the merman was still around, watching them, but whenever he took a closer look, he seemed to disappear. 

“Okay, that’s all really fascinating, but if we don’t start working we can throw all the fish back into the sea. Bucky, you bring us to the harbor. When we’re there and have unloaded the cods and are paid, _then_ we can talk about mythical creatures we all have imagined,” Steve commanded. James looked at the surface one last time but then he went back to the _cockpit_. He started the engines and he saw Sam, Steve and Natasha handle their catch. 

A merman, a real merman… and a really cute one, at that.

***

When James arrived at their berth Sam jumped off of the boat to moor it and Steve came up to the cockpit.

“We’re going to ‘Maria’s’, having a drink. You come with us?” He asked and James shut down the engines. He looked at Steve and nodded. 

“Yeah, sounds like a good idea,” he said. “I need a drink,” he added then. 

“We all do.” Steve patted his shoulder. Natasha waited for them, her rucksack already over her shoulder. 

“What about the fish? We need to unload them,” James asked. Together he and Steve went to the gangway. 

“Forget it. We will unload as soon as we had a drink. I definitely need a drink right now,” Steve said with a sigh. “This is…” he gestured vaguely at the water. “This is… I don’t know, Bucky.” 

“Fucked up?” James suggested and Steve nodded. Together they walked to Maria’s bar and met Sam and Natasha in front of it. They both seemed as distraught as he felt. Sam opened the door and they walked in, went to a booth and Steve walked to the bar. He came back a few minutes later with a bottle of scotch and four glasses, put them down on the table and sat down. He filled all the glasses and handed them out to them. James took his glass and looked at the amber liquid and then, together with the other three, he emptied it. He felt the burning of the scotch in his throat but he needed that right now. 

“Okay, just for the record,” Sam said and shoved his glass back to Steve who refilled it wordlessly. “We all have seen _it_ , right? I’m not losing my mind?” 

“Yes, I’ve seen it, too,” Natasha said and took her refilled glass, emptied it and leaned back in her seat. “But I don’t understand it,” she added. “I mean… mermaids? Really?” 

“I’ve read, ninety-five percent of the ocean is still unexplored. Who knows what really is down there?” Steve mumbled, refilled his glass and emptied it. 

“He was so scared,” James suddenly blurted and the other three looked at him with strange glances. “I mean… he…” 

“That’s your problem, Buck?” Natasha asked, a brow raised. 

“No… I mean… I don’t know… I mean… I’ve never met a merman before and…” he gestured with his hand. “And… and I’m pretty sure he hasn’t seen humans before, too.” 

“Oh my god, that’s too bizarre. We’re sitting here and talk about a merman and if he was afraid of us or not or… I don’t know,” Sam said and shook his head. “I, for one, go back to the ‘Sarah’s’ and start to unload. I need to clear my mind and to sit here and drink won’t help. Anyone up to help me?” He looked around and Natasha nodded.

“Yeah,” she said, shoved her glass back to Steve with a thanks and rose as well. 

“We’ll follow in a couple of minutes,” Steve said to them but he kept looking at James. 

“Okay, _boss_ ,” Natasha smirked, leaned down and kissed Steve’s cheek before she followed Sam out of the bar. 

“What’s wrong, Buck?” Steve asked and cocked his head. James sighed, emptied his glass, reached for the bottle and refilled it before he looked up at him. 

“You have seen him. The merman, I mean. But… have you _seen_ it?” He asked and Steve scrutinized him slowly. 

“You mean the fact that he looked like a younger, fishtail-version of you traitorous ex?” Steve grabbed the bottle before James could refill his glass again. “Yes, I’ve seen it.” 

“It’s… whew, I don’t know… strange… you know…” Steve nodded again. “Do you think…” James started but couldn’t finish the sentence, he stopped and bit his lip for a second. Steve furrowed his brows and cocked his head. 

“Please tell me you don’t think that Barney fucking Barton has something to do with _this_!” He blurted and James looked away. Because Steve was right, that _was_ what he had thought. 

“No, of course not,” he said and even in his own ears it sounded lame. “It’s just…” He sighed and wiped his face with his hand. “Let’s go back to the ‘Sarah’s’. I think we should help Sam and Tasha.” When Steve nodded and rose James looked at him and grinned. “And Tasha’ll dump your sorry if you let her do all the work alone.” 

“She’ll throw you into the water if you call her Tasha again,” Steve retorted with a snort. “And we both know that you can’t swim.” 

“I don’t need to swim because I’m excellent at boats,” James grinned now, too. 

“Yeah, you keep telling yourself.” 

James rose as well and followed Steve to the door. “You think it’s better we forget the whole _merman_ thing?” He asked him when he held the door for a woman who wanted to enter. She smiled at him and he smiled back because he was a polite man. But he recognized the way she smiled and he knew that this would never happen. 

“Let’s help Sam and Nat,” Steve said instead of an answer. James nodded and followed him to the boat. Yeah, it probably was the best to forget that he had seen a merman that looked a lot like his ex.

***

When James woke it was broad daylight and he blinked a few times confused. But then he remembered, their nets were… well… destroyed and Steve said he and Nat would repair them and Sam and James could take a day off. Sam was happy about that and he went to visit his family. His mother had cancer and he used every opportunity to visit her.

James said he would sleep in and then spend the day in front of his TV but now he wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. 

He went to the bathroom, stripped out of his sweats and threw them in the hamper before he stepped into the tub and switched on the hot water. He stayed there until the water started to get cold and his skin felt raw and wrinkled but the memory of his awful relationship with Barney always thrust itself forward into his mind. He had met the slightly older carnie when he was twenty-one and they were together for more than two years but then he caught Barney cheating with the woman he had married later and James was devastated. Only Steve, his oldest friend, could help him and he dragged him out of New York and brought him to Vandervoort, a small town in Maine that lived from fishing and tourism, where he had inherited his mother’s house, his father’s boat and their debts. Steve’s parents moved to Maine when their son went to college and Steve followed them as soon as he had finished his art studies. He still tries to make himself a name with his art but so far he wasn’t successful. And to get some food on his table he started to use his father’s boat to go fishing.

James, who was used to live in Brooklyn since he was born there, was shocked when he had seen the small town where Steve lived now. It seemed as if everyone knew everyone and knew everything about everything. In New York no one cared about his neighbor and here he got greeted on the streets by people he had never seen before just because Steve was with him. 

He went back to his bedroom, rummaged through his wardrobe and pulled out an old hoodie and some comfortable sweats and padded barefoot into the small kitchen where he found a pot of coffee. Thankfully he poured himself a cup and went with it to the living room, flopped down on the couch and switched on the TV. He zapped through the channels till he found something he liked - an old rerun episode of dog cops - and he leaned back into the cushions. 

Slowly he sipped his coffee and he tried to follow the story but his mind always drifted. Sometimes to Barney, but more often now to a certain blonde guy with a fishtail. They had seen a merman just a day before and he still couldn’t grasp it if he was honest. And the worst was, the guy… the merman… still reminded him of that bastard Barney and he had no idea why. 

James sighed, went back into the kitchen to get himself more coffee and with the cup in his hand he went back to the couch and flopped down again. He sighed once more and stared at the TV, tried to concentrate on the show but he realized he had no idea what happened there. He looked into his mug and took another sip. 

“Fuck!” He cursed and put the mug down on the coffee table and rose. He was going stir-crazy at home and he needed… he needed fresh air. With another curse he grabbed his phone and sent a message to Sam if he could have his motor boat. It took half an hour till he got a response but in the end Sam said yes and told him where he would find the keys. James thanked him, went back to his bedroom to slip into a clean pair of jeans and a thick, woolen sweater, put on his working boots, his waterproof jacket and a beanie and went to his motorcycle. In only a few minutes he was at the marina, walked to Sam’s Cobra 260 Razor, his pride and joy. Steve had told him that Sam had won it a few years ago in a poker game and when he didn’t visit his family he used to train for or participate in powerboat races in his free time. He found the keys where Sam had told him - hidden in a small compartment under the seat - and started the engines. He untied the boat and sat down behind the wheel and gently navigated out onto the sea. 

It was cold and rainy and not many tourists were out and so he could drive a little faster. He ignored the rain in his face, he just enjoyed the fresh air and he could finally breath easier. James had no idea how it happened but suddenly he found himself in the same area where they - literally - had fished out the merman. He killed the engine, went to the backseat, flopped down and let the boat float, just sat there and looked around. 

“Fuck! What are you doing, idiot?” He scolded himself after half an hour watching the water surface. He wiped his face, wiped away the water that ran over it and sighed. “Fuck!” He cursed again and then again. “Fuck!” 

He rose and went back to the driver’s seat and just wanted to start the engine when he saw something like a _shadow_ beneath the surface. Well, it was not really a shadow, just something a shade lighter than the water itself. James scrambled onto his feet and to the edge of the boat but the _shadow_ disappeared really fast. He waited a few minutes, stared into the water and just when he finally wanted to give up and go back to the driver’s seat the _shadow_ appeared again. And this time it stopped beside the boat and looked at him. It was the merman. 

James stared open mouthed and the merman cocked his head but didn’t break the surface, he just floated beside the boat and looked up at him. But when James reached out to touch the water the merman shrank back and darted off. 

“No!” He blurted and wanted to stop him but he couldn’t follow him. James stared at the water and looked if he could see anything. It took another two minutes till the _shadow_ appeared again and this time he came really close to the surface. James moved his hands back to show him that he wasn’t a threat. The merman watched him and he saw him move his fluke nervously. James waited and after a long moment the merman finally breached the water surface. He wiped his wet, blonde hair out of his eyes and blinked a few times. James saw the gills, he had behind his ears, quiver and he licked his lips. 

“Hey,” James said with a smile and the merman jumped, so to speak, and swam away as fast as possible. But when he didn’t move the merman came back. 

“You have nothing to fear,” he said. The merman cocked his head again. 

“Do you understand me?” He asked. The merman licked his lips and nodded, shook his head and nodded again. It looked so adorable, James couldn’t hold back a laugh. “You understand me,” he repeated and this time the merman nodded. He licked his lips again and James saw his gills move and they closed and then he took a breath through his mouth. 

“Little,” the merman said slow and very carefully. James almost fell over board into the water. He hadn’t expected him to be able to speak. 

“Wow, that’s… that’s great!” He blurted and smiled and the merman frowned. Maybe he had spoken too fast and he repeated it slower. That made the merman smile, too. 

“My. Name. Is. James,” he said slowly and pointed at himself. The merman cocked his head again, moved his lips a few times and then he tried to say his name. But that wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

“Shhha… chhha… sshheem…” the merman tried but couldn’t get it out correctly.

“James,” he said again, slower this time and the merman tried it again, still to no avail. “What about Bucky? That’s my nickname,” he said.

“Buuckeee?” The merman tried and when James nodded he smiled. “Buckee,” he said again. “Buckee, Buckee,” he repeated a few more times. 

“Yes, that’s right. That’s me. Bucky,” he said with a laugh. “And who are you?” He asked and pointed at the merman. 

“Cilinathan,” the merman said and pointed at his nose. James frowned. Did he mean this word was his name or did he try to tell him how they call their noses?

“Is that… is that your name?” He asked and sat down at the edge of the boat. The merman cocked his head once more and repeated the word. “Cilinathan.” And then he pointed at his nose again and added, “Me.” 

“That’s your name,” James asked again and the merman nodded. 

“Celin… no… cleni…” He tried and this time the merman made some sort of noise with his gills and he grinned broadly. And James realized that it probably was a laugh. “That’s quite complicated,” James admitted. 

“Cilinth,” the merman said and pointed at himself again. 

“Oh, is that a nickname? A pet name?” The merman nodded again. He swam closer to the boat, moved his fluke and lifted his upper body out of the water. James saw the webbing between his fingers.

“Clint?” He asked. He knew that he didn’t pronounce it correctly but he couldn’t do it better. The merman made that sound again and James couldn’t help himself, he laughed, too. 

“Buckee,” the merman said and pointed at James and then he said, “Cilinth,” and pointed at himself. 

“Yeah, Bucky and Clint,” James said with a smile. The merman slapped a hand onto the surface of the water to make it splash and a few drops hit James. And that was when he realized that it had stopped to rain. 

“Buckee and Cilinth,” the merman repeated, his head cocked. James just opened his mouth to say something when he heard another sound, a boat, and Clint’s head snapped around, he looked frantically and then, with a trilling sound he submerged. 

“Wait!” James said and reached out with his hand but the merman swam away as fast as possible. “Shit,” he cursed and turned around to see another go-fast boat. A black one with a red octopus on it, one of Rumlow’s. The other man was not only a fisherman, he also had a few boats he rented out to tourists. The boat passed him in some distance. 

But the merman - Clint he corrected himself - didn’t come back. James waited another half hour before he finally started the engines and drove back to the marina as fast as possible. He barely managed to moor the boat because he needed to tell someone, he needed to tell Steve that he had seen him again. And he knew where he would find him. He hurried to his bike and drove the short distance to the fishing harbor where the ‘Sarah’s’ had her berth and he almost ran down to the boat in excitement.

He already was within call when he bumped into someone and he almost fell down. The other guy landed on his ass, though. 

“What the fuck! Are you blind?” The man snapped and glared at James from his position on the ground. He really hadn’t seen him, he had already looked out for Steve and Natasha. 

“Sorry,” he said and reached down to help the other man get up. “I was in a hurry.” 

“No shit?” Rumlow glared at him. 

“Yeah, whatever,” James muttered, passed him and jogged over to the ‘Sarah’s’. He could still feel Rumlow’s glances in his back. He really didn’t like the man even if it wasn’t as bad as Steve’s _dislike_. Rumlow was strange in a way, he just couldn’t put his finger on it. 

“Steve?” He yelled as soon as he was close enough to see his two friends, sitting on reversed buckets and working on the nets. They had stretched some canvas from the cockpit to the outriggers to stay dry and they talked quietly to each other. But Steve’s head snapped up when he heard James’ voice and he blushed violently when he saw him appear and maybe the two of them sat a little bit too close together to _just_ work on the nets but he couldn’t care less right now. 

“Steve,” he blurted out of breath and with the biggest grin on his face. “I’ve seen him again!” 

“Him?” Steve furrowed his brows. And then it hit him. “Oh! _Him_ him.” 

“Yes, him, Sherlock!” He came over to them, grabbed a bucket, turned it around and sat down as well. “I asked Sam if I could take his boat and I drove out to the place where we fished him out yesterday and… and he was there. Steve! He can speak! He can understand me!” 

“What? I mean… why… why did you drive out there?” Natasha asked now. 

“I… I needed to get some fresh air and I thought… well… maybe I was just curious, okay?” He defended himself. Natasha nodded, shared a small glance with Steve and that tiny, tiny smirk, the one he really hated, appeared on her lips. 

“Okay, and… he talked to you?” Steve asked now. James nodded enthusiastically. 

“Yes, he told me his name. I can’t pronounce it but it sounds like Clint,” he explained. 

“Clint? Doesn’t sound merman-y to me,” Natasha threw in. 

“Well, _he_ did pronounce it differently but I didn’t manage it. It’s complicated, okay?” James defended himself. “And how many mermen did you meet, by the way?” 

“Okay, okay,” Steve interrupted the two of them. “So, you went out alone?” 

“Well… yes. You two were here and Sam is with his parents,” James confirmed. Steve scrutinized him and his disapproving glance appeared on his face. “What?” He asked.

“It’s just… he could’ve been dangerous. He could’ve attacked you, you know. And you know that you can’t swim. What if he’d thrown you into the water?” Steve said carefully. 

“He… he wouldn’t…” James said but now he wasn’t so sure anymore. Steve was right. He could not swim. If the merman - Clint - had thrown him into the water, he would’ve drowned. But… he didn’t seem like a guy who would throw another guy into the water. 

“You can’t know that, Bucky,” Steve said and James huffed. He was right. He couldn’t know that. Clint was the first merman he met. Well, just two days ago he thought they were only mythical creatures, pipe dreams of ancient authors. No one knew what mermen would do or not. 

“Forget him, Buck,” Natasha said. 

“But…” he started but Steve shook his head before he could finish his sentence.

“No, she’s right. Forget him. It’s probably for the best.” 

James looked at his friends for a very long moment. Yeah, maybe they were right, maybe it was for the best if he would forget Clint. But they… they had no idea. He just met a _merman_ for crying out loud. How could he forget him? 

“Yeah,” he said then and rose. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” When he saw Steve’s pleased smile he felt bad because he didn’t intend to leave it be. He would see Clint again, he would see to it. “I’m going home. Do you want to come over for dinner? I can cook,” he offered and looked at Natasha. 

“No… uhm… we… we wanted…” Steve started and blushed so violently that James couldn’t be mad at him anymore. He grinned, winked and Steve actually managed to flush even more, thanks to his Irish origins. 

“I understand,” James said. “Have fun,” he added before he left the boat. But when he walked to his bike he ran into Rumlow again. The man leaned against a boat shed and when he saw James walk to the gate he nodded in his direction and made a greeting gesture with his finger against his forehead. James scrutinized the man for a second while walking to the gate and he didn’t like that smirk on his face. 

“Barnes,” he said when James passed him and followed him with his eyes. 

“What?” James finally snapped and stopped to glare at him. 

“Nothing, everything is fine,” Rumlow said. James looked at him for a few more seconds before he turned around. 

“Small-town dwellers,” he muttered. “Inbreeding… all of them.” 

He mounted his motorcycle, put on his helmet and started the engine. At first he wanted to drive home but then, he didn’t need to cook since Steve would stay over at Natasha’s and he had no desire to be alone right now. And so he drove to their favorite bar - there were only two of them in this hicktown and Jasper’s bar was a dirty hole - and walked in. 

Maria, the owner, stood behind the bar when he sat down and ordered a beer. 

“You look like something the cat dragged in,” she said with a smirk and put the bottle down on the counter. 

“Yeah, no… it was a weird day,” he said with a sigh. Maria raised a brow and leaned against the counter. “Something good happened, something not so good happened and something weird happened,” he added then. 

Maria scrutinized him, nodded, turned around and searched for a bottle. She found it in the top shelf, reached up to get it, took two glasses and filled them, placed one in front of James and took the other one herself. 

“What’s that?” James asked. 

“Scotch,” Maria said. “A 25 years old Macallan to be precise. It’s on the house.” Maria took her glass and clinked it to James’. But before he drank he lifted the glass to sniff at it. 

“You can drink it, I’m not gonna poison you,” she snapped. 

“Okay, okay, peace.” James smired and took a sip. He liked Scotch and he had tried a few of them but this one was one of the best he ever tasted. “Wow,” he blurted. 

“Good, eh?” Maria grinned and drank from her own glass. 

“Yeah, definitely,” he said and raised his glass in her direction before he took another sip. “Thanks,” he added.

“Sometimes there are days like these, you know…” Maria said with a nod. “And then you need a glass of good Scotch.” She refilled both their glasses. 

“Thanks, Maria,” James said. He stared into the glass for a few minutes while Maria went to serve a few of the other customers. “It’s…” He stared, stopped, sighed again and took a sip from his beer. “It was a weird day, no, a few weird days and… I don’t know what to do.” 

“You have to do what’s the best for you,” Maria said with a shrug and leaned against the back of her bar. “I mean, I know Steve’s your friend and all that, but he has his own life and you can’t always do what he wants, right?” Of course Maria had sensed the problem immediately. She was one of the first people he met when he moved here and he really liked her. He would even go so far as to say that she was one of his closer friends. One of the few he had. 

“I know,” he said. “You know what, Maria, you’re right,” he added after a long moment, emptied his bottle of beer, paid for it and rose. “You’re right,” he repeated. “And that’s what I’m going to do. Thanks for the drinks.” 

“You’re welcome,” Maria grinned. And then she pushed herself off of the counter, threw the towel she had in her hand over her shoulder and walked to the other side of the bar. “Yeah, Benson, I’ve seen you half an hour ago, no need to get frantic.” James chuckled on his way out of the bar and to his bike. 

Yeah, maybe Steve was right. Maybe it was dangerous. But he would see Clint again, that was for sure.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to [captainkittysparrow](http://captainkittysparrow.tumblr.com/) for this beautiful [fanart](http://captainkittysparrow.tumblr.com/post/139990979031/for-asamandra-s-work-there-are-more-things-in)!

“Bucky!” Steve yelled and banged with his fist against the staircase. “Get your lazy ass out of the bed.” 

James groaned, turned around and pulled the cushion over his head. “Bucky, come on! It’s time!” 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he muttered, rolled out of his bed and glared at his alarm clock. 3.23 am, seven minutes too early. He padded into the bathroom, peed, threw a handful of water in his face and tied his hair back into a bun. He put on a shirt and walked down to the kitchen where Steve waited for him with a cup of coffee and a slice of toast with honey on it. 

“Thanks,” he mumbled, took a long sip of his coffee and started to munch his toast. 

“Sam called. There’s a school of cod reported and Rumlow is nowhere to be seen yet,” Steve said and James nodded. 

“Okay, give me a few minutes,” he said and emptied his mug. He went to get dressed, grabbed his waterproof jacket and his boots and followed Steve out of the house. He flopped down in the passenger’s seat and tied the boots while Steve drove them to the harbor. But when they walked down to the berth of the ‘Sarah’s’ James heard the engine of another car and he turned his head to see Brock Rumlow’s sleek, black Ford F-150 with the red octopus logo on the hood and the doors arrive. But Rumlow’s crew was already on the ‘Hydra’ and they only waited for him as it seemed.

“Dammit,” Steve muttered under his breath and accelerated his pace. Natasha wasn’t here yet, only Sam waited for them aboard the ‘Sarah’s’. As soon as they were within call Steve told him to get the boat ready and they started immediately to work. Rumlow walked down to the ‘Hydra’s berth, passed the ‘Sarah’s’ with a smirk and a salute with his index finger and went aboard his own boat. And they still had to wait for Natasha. 

Steve cursed like the proverbial sailor and tried to call her but she didn’t accept his call. 

“What’s wrong?” Sam asked and Steve shook his head. The ‘Hydra’s’ engines started and Rumlow’s crew unmoored her.

“I don’t know. She was okay when I left her yesterday,” he said and tapped his foot impatiently. James took his own phone and looked at it but there was nothing on it as well. 

“We can’t drive out without her, we need her,” Sam said and Steve glared at him angrily. 

James grabbed his thermos and went to the cockpit already. He wanted to be ready when Natasha arrived. 

The ‘Hydra’ already drove out onto the sea and Rumlow, who steered his boat himself, saluted again in their direction, an evil grin on his face. Sam, who stood at the railing, flipped him off.

They had to wait another thirty minutes - and four more boats left the harbor in the meantime - till Natasha appeared. She limped down to the ‘Sarah’s’ and even if it was still dark outside, James could see her ripped pants. 

“Oh shit!” Steve cursed and ran over to her. She gestured with her hands but James could not understand what she said but when Steve pointed in the direction of his car she shook her head. Steve talked to her again and she shook her head once more and finally he helped her aboard. James started the engines and steered the ‘Sarah’s’ out onto the sea, too. 

About ten minutes later Steve opened the door to the cockpit. James had just poured himself another cup of coffee and when he heard the door he looked over his shoulder. 

“What happened?” He asked and Steve came over to him, an angry expression on his face. Seldom had he seen the man so furious. 

“Rumlow, that asshole, forced her bike off the road and she fell. Her ankle is sprained and she has a few excoriations but luckily nothing too serious. The bike on the other hand is totaled,” he snapped. 

“What the fuck!?” James blurted. “Is he nuts?” 

“Of course he is! Just you wait, I’m going to snap his neck, damn asshole!” Steve punched the wall beside the door and James heard an ugly crunching sound from his bones. 

“Shit, Steve!” He wanted to stop the boat to look at his hand but Steve shook his head. 

“I’m okay,” he grumbled. “But that fucking asshole could’ve killed her. So help me god, I’m going to kick his ass, believe me, Bucky!” 

“I believe you,” he said and Steve turned to look at him angrily. “So… uh… do you want me to take her place today?” 

“No,” Steve said and shook his head. “She said she’s okay and when I send her up to the cockpit she… you know her…” 

James couldn’t hold back a smirk. Of course he knew her and her Russian temper. And he also knew that Natasha never would admit weaknesses, not even when they are plainly visible. He knew, that she would want to show them how tough she was and that a little scratch couldn’t stop her. 

“She’s going to rip off your balls?” He asked. 

“Yeah,” Steve said and huffed a laugh. But the smile on his lips told James how much he really loved Natasha, even if he always complained about her temper. “Okay, I… I will look after her. You okay?” 

“Sure.” James nodded. Steve looked at him for another few seconds before he nodded, turned and left the cockpit. James sighed. This would only make everything more complicated.

***

An hour later they were at the coordinates where the cod were reported but the ‘Hydra’ and a few other boats were already there with their trawls out.

“Fuck!” Steve cursed and slammed his fist against the railing when James came down, too. Sam and Natasha stood beside Steve and if their looks could kill then Brock Rumlow and the ‘Hydra’ would burst into flames immediately. 

“Damn bastard,” James muttered and leaned his arms onto the railing, too. Another day without income.

“What do we do now?” Sam asked and Steve huffed in frustration. 

“We go home. What else can we do? There’s nothing much left when they are gone,” he gestured at the boats. 

“Steve,” Natasha started but the man shook his head. 

“Don’t…” he said. “It’s not your fault,” he added then. 

“If I hadn’t fallen…” She started again but Steve turned to her and glared, a finger raised.

“That asshole forced you off the road and this is not. Your. Fault.” He snapped. Natasha nodded slowly and James was sure she still blamed herself. 

He pushed himself off of the railing and walked to the other side of the boat to go up to the cockpit when he sensed a movement on his left side. He turned his head to take a look and saw the merman - Clint - beside the boat, hidden so the other fishermen couldn’t see him. “Buckee!” 

“Hey!” James stopped and a smile crept onto his face. 

“You… hunt fish?” Clint asked and pointed at the fishing boats behind the ‘Sarah’s’. 

“Yes,” James said and nodded. “We search fish but they have found them before us.” 

“For… eat?” The merman made a gesture at his mouth and cocked his head. 

“Yes, Clint. We eat them,” James confirmed. Clint swam a bit to the side and looked around the ‘Sarah’s’. 

“They… for eat?” The merman furrowed his brows while looking at the trawlers and their nets. 

“Yes. There are many, many people and they all want to eat fish. That’s why we’re here. We catch them and give them to these people,” James explained and then Clint’s face lit up. 

“You… hunter?” 

“Yes,” he confirmed and added then, “so to speak.” 

“Hunter,” Clint said and pointed at his chest. James stared at him for a moment and then he understood. He looked around the ‘Sarah’s’ and then at their empty nets. “Hunter,” he repeated, looked up at James and gestured with his hand to follow him. 

“You want me to follow you?” James asked. 

“Bucky?” He heard a voice from behind and Steve appeared at his side. Clint submerged but stayed underwater only a few seconds before he reappeared. “Oh my god,” Steve whispered. 

“Clint, this is Steve?” James pointed at the man beside him. The merman cocked his head and pointed at Steve.

“Ssteve,” he said. Then he pointed at him, James, and said, “Buckee,” and finally he pointed at his own nose and said, “Cilinth.”

“Yes,” James smiled. Clint pointed at his own chest and said, “Hunter,” before he pointed at Steve and asked, “Hunter?” 

“He wants to know if you’re a fish- _hunter_ , too,” James explained and Steve looked at him, a brow raised. 

“That much I figured out myself,” he whispered. 

“You know that he can hear you, right?” James asked. Steve turned to Clint who still swam beside the ‘Sarah’s’. 

“You hunt fish?” Clint asked again. Steve nodded. 

“But they were here first,” Steve said. Clint cocked his head again. 

“Fish… there,” he pointed in another direction. “More fish.” 

“You mean…” Steve’s eyes went wide and Clint nodded. 

“Small herd,” he said and pointed to the place where Rumlow and the others were fishing and then back into the other direction, “Big herd.” 

“Are you going to show us the fish?” Steve wanted to know and Clint nodded again. 

“For eat,” he said and then he waved with his hand once more. They should follow him. James nodded in Clint’s direction and hurried to the cockpit. He started the engines and gave Steve a sign that he was ready. Steve turned to tell Clint before he turned back and pointed in a direction. James couldn’t see him but he knew that Clint swam ahead and Steve had an eye on him to show him, James, the direction. Sam and Natasha went over to Steve, leaned against the railing and it seemed as if they watched Clint swim.

They followed him almost an hour before Steve raised his hand. James stopped the ‘Sarah’s’ and Steve talked over the railing before he nodded and came up to him into the cockpit. 

“We’re here,” he said. “Your friend said the cod are in this direction,” Steve said and pointed to show him where he had to lead the boat to. 

“Okay,” James nodded. “Then let’s start.”

***

It was amazing. Clint had led them to a huge school of fish and their nets were filled to the brim. It was the biggest catch they had in a long time, probably the biggest they ever had. Steve wanted to bring them back home immediately but James said he needed a minute. He looked over the railing and saw the merman float beside the boat, watching them curiously and apparently waiting for him because as soon as he spotted him, his face lit up and a broad smile appeared.

“Buckee,” he said and once again James couldn’t resist, he had to smile, too. His smile was really infectious. 

“Hey, Clint,” he said and sat down on deck and let his feet dangle through the railing. Clint swam closer and carefully reached up to touch the soles of his boots. “I wanted to thank you,” he added and pointed at the enormous amount of fish they had aboard. “You know, for the tip.” 

Clint cocked his head and a blue-ish shimmer overspread his body. Or better, the visible part of it. 

“You… wait.” Before James could say a word Clint turned and submerged. It didn’t take too long, only a minute or two later he emerged again and he had a fish in both his hands. He swam close to the boat. “For you,” he said and held it up to him. James saw that it wasn’t a cod, it was a bluefin tuna.

“This… is for me?” James asked and stared at the big fish in the merman’s hands. Clint nodded and the blue-ish shimmer appeared again. 

“For eat. For you.” 

“Wow, thank you,” James took the fish and lifted it aboard. It was heavy and Clint made that sound with his gills while watching him. He reached for a bucket and threw the tuna in. The merman looked at him for a second and James looked over his shoulder to Steve, Sam and Nat, working on the other side of the boat. 

“Do you know the town?” James pointed in the direction to the town, Vandervoort. Clint furrowed his brows but after a moment he nodded. “There’s a small bay a little further south. It’s not easy to reach if you don’t have a boat and that’s why no one goes there. I’ll be there this afternoon… I mean… if you want to come, too…” James felt the heat crawl up to his cheeks. Clint cocked his head again but then, after a long moment, he nodded and the smile was back on his face. 

“Yes,” he said. “I... come.” Before James could say goodbye the merman turned and submerged. But then he jumped out of the water like a dolphin and vanished with an elegant stroke with his fluke. 

“He’s a bit of a show-off,” James heard a voice behind himself. Natasha came to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“What? No,” James said and rose. He looked at the tune in the bucket and sighed. 

“Oh, he definitely is,” Natasha grinned. “So, you ready to drive us back home?” 

“Yeah,” he took his bucket and followed Natasha. 

“Your fish-friend got you a gift?” She winked and James felt the heat in his cheeks again. 

“It’s just a fish,” he said but even in his own ears it sounded lame. 

“What did you expect? He lives in the ocean. I’m pretty sure there are not many shops to buy flowers and chocolates,” she teased. 

“God, you’re impossible,” James groaned. But apparently Clint leading them to the biggest catch they ever had resolved all doubt in him. 

“He likes you,” she sing-songed and James tried to swat her arm but even with a sprained ankle Natasha was faster than him. He muttered something unintelligible into his non-existing beard and went to the cockpit. He needed a gift for Clint, too. He needed to thank him properly. And James didn’t realize that he had a happy smile on his face when he started the engines and drove them back to the harbor.


	3. Chapter 3

Steve had called Coulson from his boat and as soon as they landed the man came aboard. James saw him walking up to Steve and to talk to him with that small smile of his on his lips. It was a little weird. Coulson was a nice guy but he seemed to have some sort of man crush on Steve and he always smiled that little smile when he saw Steve. Sam had told him that Coulson was a huge comic fan and that he collected everything about Captain America and apparently he thought Steve looked a lot like the man. James had laughed when he saw Steve blush but they still sold most of their catch to Coulson. Sometimes a few of the restaurant owners came to buy fish but the majority went to Coulson’s fish factory. James locked the cockpit when he was done and he went down to Steve and Coulson, who still carried on negotiations about the price. 

“Hey, Coulson,” James waved at him when he was within earshot and the man waved back. Sam and Natasha were nowhere to be seen right now and James prepared to unload the fish, when he heard a strangled sound behind him. He turned around and saw Steve jump off of his boat and ran along the pier. 

“What…” Coulson started but James, who saw the dark clad guy - Rumlow - on the other end, interrupted him.

“Fuck!” He spat. “Come on, Coulson,” he yelled and followed Steve. He ran as fast as possible but Steve was already there and he grabbed the other man’s shoulder, spun him around and placed his fist right in Rumlow’s face. The man went down on his ass but Steve was on him, he punched him again and once more before James finally arrived and grabbed him to pull him away. 

“I’ll end you, you asshole!” Steve just yelled and he struggled violently, tried to wriggle himself out of his grip when James pulled him off of Rumlow. “You’ll regret the day your whore of a mother dropped you!” Coulson arrived, too, just to stop Rumlow from hitting at Steve. 

“Stop! Both of you!” Coulson bellowed and it worked. Both men stopped struggling and stared at the usually so quiet, mild-mannered man. 

But then Rumlow couldn’t hold his tongue, “It’s not my fault that your bitch is too dumb to drive a bike,” he spat. Steve stopped for a second but then he wriggled even more in James’ grip. 

“I’ll snap your fucking neck!” He yelled. “Let the fuck go of me, Bucky, or I swear to god…” That moment Rumlow broke away and tried to get to Steve again but Coulson floored him with a hard punch. 

“It’s enough!” He bellowed again. “Get him away,” he then said to James. He nodded and tried his best to pull Steve away but it wasn’t easy to remove 240 pounds of raging wrath. Coulson held Rumlow and talked to him but James couldn’t understand what he said, Steve’s yells and death threats were too distracting. He knew that he hated Rumlow but he had never in all his time he knew Steve seen that he lost it like that. 

“Get on the fucking boat,” he finally snapped and Sam appeared from wherever he had been, saw him struggle with their _Captain_ , hurried over and helped him. 

“What happened?” He asked. 

“He attacked Rumlow,” James wheezed and Sam’s eyes went wide. 

“Nat!” Sam yelled. Only a minute later she was on deck, too, and the three of them managed to lock a raging Steve into the cabin beneath the cockpit where he still screamed and launched threats what he would do to Rumlow when he sees him the next time. 

“What the fuck was that?” Coulson was back, too, and he looked at the three of them. 

“Rumlow forced Nat off of the road with her bike,” Sam explained. 

“Okay, that explains that,” Coulson said and wiped his eyes with his hand. “I guess we’ll talk about the fish later,” he sighed. 

“No,” Natasha shook her head. “Let’s talk about it and then we can unload.” 

Coulson looked at the door to the small cabin where Steve still rampaged and yelled, pursed his lips and nodded then. 

“By the way, that was quite a punch,” James said and pointed with his chin over to the pier where Coulson had floored Rumlow. “Where’d you learn that?” That small smile appeared on Coulson’s lips again and he shrugged out of his waxed jacket, rolled up the sleeve of his plaid shirt and revealed a Rangers tattoo. He didn’t say a word, just pointed at the tattoo with that smile. James raised a brow.

“Remind me to never make you mad at me,” he added then. 

“Maybe we should tell Steve,” Sam muttered under his breath when they heard something break inside of the cabin. 

“Okay, boys, let’s get this finished, then we can bring our rage monster home… or to ‘Maria’s’,” Natasha said and clapped her hands and all three men nodded and followed her.

***

James cursed when he cut his arm on one of the rocks. He looked at it, saw the ripped arm of his shirt and the blood on his arm. He cursed even more. Now he had to repair that shirt, too, when he was back. But this was the only way to that bay - the locals call it Toothacher Bay - where he wanted to meet Clint, the merman, without a boat. It was just a tiny incision in the coast, surrounded by rocks. Tourists never came to this bay and the locals only once in a blue moon. So, it was the perfect location to meet the merman without being seen.

He had found this bay by accident shortly after moving to Vandervoort. He had taken a walk to clear his mind and got lost. Steve told him that the people knew about it but since it was just water, surrounded by rocks, no one came here. There were more beautiful bays in the north of the town. 

When he reached the waterline he saw Clint already waiting for him and he smiled, when he saw him and waved. James slipped again and almost fell into the water and the merman slapped a hand over his mouth and laughed. 

“Hey, Clint,” James greeted him. Clint swam over to where he stood, looked up and hopped onto one of the rocks. It was the first time James could see all of him, relaxed, and not in panic trying to get back into the water. 

“Buckee,” Clint said when James hunkered down beside him, not too close to not scare him. But this time he could take a closer look. He had his fluke in the water but most of the fishtail was out and his scales shimmered in a blue-ish-purple. They looked beautiful and James had to resist the urge to touch them. 

“I have a present for you,” James said and reached into his pocket. The merman’s eyes went wide and he gaped at him disbelievingly. 

“For me?” He asked when James gave him the diving knife. Carefully Clint took it and looked at the sheath. James reached over and showed him how to pull it out. When he, Sam and Natasha had brought Steve to the bar he only took a drink and left the other three there. Steve was still so angry and Nat and Sam said, they would stay with him. But James had thought about something to give Clint for his help and for the tuna and the only thing that made sense was a diving knife, since he had told him that he was a _hunter_. It was the only thing that was useful and wouldn’t come apart in the water. 

“Careful, it’s sharp,” James said the same moment Clint had touched its grind, trilled agitated and put his finger in his mouth. He had cut himself. “Damn,” he muttered under his breath when he saw a few drops of blood on the rock beside the merman. 

“Sorry,” James apologized but Clint shook his head, looked at the knife again, smiled and put it back in the sheath. 

“Thank you,” he said and held it close to his chest. 

“Clint, can I ask you a question?” James wanted to know and after a moment the merman nodded. “Why did you help us? I mean, we literally fished you out of the ocean just a few days earlier and… and you didn’t seem to be overly fond of us and now… now you help us?” 

The blue-ish-purple shimmer appeared again and James realized that it was his way to blush. He scratched the back of his neck with a lopsided grin. James could only stare at him because this was probably the cutest thing he’d ever seen him do. 

“The Fjiourie says… I am too…” he waved his hand in a strange gesture and seemed to search for the right word. “Want to know too much,” he said then.

“Curious?” James supplied and the merman cocked his head and furrowed his brow. Apparently he didn’t know that word. “It’s when you see or hear something and you want to know more about it,” he explained and Clint’s face lit up in a bright smile.

“Yes,” he nodded. “Curious,” he tried the word then and nodded once more. 

“The… the Fury? Is that… is that your father?” James asked and Clint _laughed_ and shook his head. 

“No, not mine. All of our father. Our… leader.” He said and James realized that, even if he could understand him perfectly fine, he still didn’t know all the words, he sometimes had to ask. 

“The Fury is your leader? Your king?” 

Clint nodded again. 

“He says… I’m too _curious_ and it… kill me… one day,” he said but he grinned while saying it. James furrowed his brows. Apparently this merman was a reckless little shit. 

“Well, curiosity kills the cat,” James mumbled and Clint frowned. He pursed his lips and James stared at them because he had to admit that Clint pouting was the really cute like most of the things he did. 

“What… cat. What is cat?” Clint asked. 

“Oh, uhm… it’s an animal with four legs and fur and a long tail and they purr and meow and catch mouses and they are really curious,” he explained and Clint nodded concentrated. 

“Never seen… cat,” Clint said earnestly. 

“No, probably not. Most of them are really afraid of water and…” he stopped when he saw Clint’s eyes widen.

“Afraid of water?” He asked and slapped a hand over his mouth. 

“Yes, they… they don’t go swimming,” James said. 

“I think… I don’t like cat,” Clint said matter-of-factly. James chuckled and the merman moved his fluke so that a few waterdrops hit him. 

“Hey,” he protested with a laugh and Clint giggled, too. “But you didn’t answer me, why did you help us?” 

Clint’s blue-ish purple shimmer appeared again and he looked at his fluke. “You… not them, help you.” 

“Me?” James’ eyes went wide. “But… why?” 

“You… are nice,” he whispered, barely audible. “When… when I… in net, you… you were nice,” he added. He still had sometimes problems with their language but James understood what he wanted to say. 

“You’ve been scared and I wanted to help you to get out of it,” he said. 

“You are nice,” Clint repeated with a shy smile. He moved his fluke in the water and a few more drops hit James. But just when James opened his mouth to say something they both heard a trilling sound and Clint’s head snapped around. The trilling recurred only a few seconds later. “I have to go,” he whispered and then he moved, jumped into the water and submerged. 

“Wait!” He called but the merman didn’t reappear. James stayed sitting on the rock and stared at the water. He had no idea why Clint vanished and he couldn’t see anything that could’ve chased him away. But when dusk was falling he finally rose and climbed back up to the path to the town.

***

It was already pitch-black outside when he arrived at ‘Maria’s’, the better one of the two local pubs. On his way to the door he saw Brock Rumlow’s Pick-Up parked on the other side of the street. Maybe he waited for Steve to continue where they stopped? The windows of the Pick-Up were tinted so he couldn't see if someone was inside. He opened the door to the pub, went in and expected Steve, Sam and Natasha to be in there. After Steve’s meltdown at the harbor he was pretty sure that the other two had dragged him here to calm him down. But only a few other people were here.

He went over to the bar and sat down on one of the stools. Maria saw him and came to him. 

“Hey, Bucky,” she greeted him. She was an old friend of Steve, that’s why she knew his nickname and was allowed to use it. “Beer?” James nodded and Maria opened the fridge, took out one of the bottles, opened it and placed it in front of him. 

“Steve’s not here?” He asked and Maria shook her head. 

“No, they left an hour ago. He was really upset,” she said and nodded at one of the other patrons, took a bottle of beer and brought it to him. “Natasha said something about a scene at the harbor and Steve ranted and ranted and cursed Rumlow the whole time. She brought him home and Sam left with them,” she told him. “You up to tell me what happened?” 

“You know Brock Rumlow, right?” He asked instead of an answer. Maria raised a brow but she nodded. “What’s wrong with that guy?” 

“You mean aside from the fact that his family owns half of the town and that he’s a gigantic asshole?” She looked around but none of the other patrons needed her attention right now. 

“Yeah, aside from that fact.” James lived here for two years but even he knew already that Alexander Pierce, the mayor, was Rumlow’s godfather. His father, Hector Rumlow, owned a canned fish factory, both his brothers were fishermen, too, and half of the local council was related to him. His aunt owned the supermarket, his sister had a diner and his wife an apparel store. 

“Why do you ask?” She wiped the bar with a rug and looked around again. 

“Do you know what happened between him and Steve?” He nibbled at the label from his bottle. Maria looked at him for a few seconds and took a deep breath. But then she shook her head.

“They both don’t talk about it. I mean, not that Rumlow comes here often, but when he’s here he doesn’t talk about Steve,” she said then. “Mostly he just wants to _entertain_ one of his flings.” 

“Flings? I thought he’s married,” James’ eyes went wide. 

“Yeah, of course he is. But that doesn’t stop him. His wife knows and apparently she doesn’t care,” Maria said with a shrug and she threw the towel she just had in her hand over her shoulder, walked away to serve another one of the patrons. James followed her with his eyes. 

“Did he try to hit on Natasha?” He asked when Maria was back and she huffed a bitter laugh. 

“Of course he did. He hits on all the women younger than thirty and not related to him,” she snorted. 

“Oh,” was James’ intelligent response. Maybe Rumlow had tried to hit on Natasha and she had turned him down. And since Brock Rumlow was a vindictive man he would not have taken a rejection very well. “His car is parked outside,” he said then and Maria raised a brow. 

“Well, he wasn’t inside and I haven’t heard an _argument_ outside when Steve left,” she said. James sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Okay,” he said and reached into his pocket for his wallet, took out the money for his beer and a generous tip and put it on the bar beside his bottle. “I think I better check on Steve.” 

“Yeah,” Maria nodded and took the money. “I hope he’s okay,” she added. 

“Yeah,” James said and rose. “See you soon, Maria.” 

He left the bar and took a deep breath of fresh air outside. He loved the pub, really. But the air inside was horrible. Rumlow’s Pick-Up was still parked opposite of the bar and only when he saw a small red dot light up he realized that the man stood behind it in a dark corner, smoked a cigarette and watched him. James glared in his direction and Rumlow stepped out of the shadows, grinning with the cigarette hanging in the corner of his mouth.

“Barnes,” he said with a sloppy salute with two fingers. James gritted his teeth. 

“Rumlow,” he pressed through them but when the other man didn’t move, he turned and started to walk away. Steve’s house wasn’t that far away and so he didn’t bother with calling a taxi, he could walk. He liked to walk. Rumlow threw away his cigarette and ground the butt under his heel before he got into his car, started the engine and drove away. 

“Asshole,” he muttered and kicked a small stone into the curb. On his way he let his mind wander and of course it didn’t take long and he thought about Clint, about them meeting in the Toothacher Bay and about the really cute way the merman always said Bucky. _’Oh god,’_ he thought, _’this is really fucked up. I’m falling for a merman!’_

James shook his head. He knew that it was futile and he should listen to Steve and forget about Clint. But… he was so nice and… and cute. He wondered what made Clint disappear. There was this trilling sound and it almost sounded like the sounds Clint always made. Maybe… maybe it was another merman… or mermaid? Maybe he got called back? Maybe… 

His train of thought stopped when he arrived at the house. It was dark. He sighed, searched for his keys and went to the door, unlocked it and went in. Steve’s jacket, his boots were missing and the keys he usually had in a small bowl behind the door weren’t here, too. It seemed as if he was over at Natasha’s. 

Steve and Natasha were an item for a few years now but they didn’t move in together, let alone talk about marriage. Steve had said Nat needed her freedom and even if he wanted to marry her, she didn’t want to. He also said it’s not about her not loving him, Steve, but she always said that an institutionalized relationship would ruin everything. They were strange, he thought. But they liked it that way. 

James removed his jacket and his boots, put his keys into the bowl beside the door and went to the fridge. He took a slice from the leftover meatloaf, put it on a slice of bread and added mustard. Munching he walked up the stairs to his bedroom, undressed and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. 

And with a last glance into the mirror he went to his bed, set the alarm and switched off the light.


	4. Chapter 4

He didn’t see Clint the last three weeks. He went to Toothacher Bay almost every day but the merman didn’t appear. The first week he sat there each spare minute and waited but Clint didn’t come back. Sometimes he thought he saw his fluke in the water but when he looked closer it was gone. In the second and third week he still stayed for hours but most of the time one of his crew members - his friends - dragged him home.

Steve on the other hand had had a few more encounters with Rumlow but nothing so bad as back at the harbor. Mostly it was just a few nasty comments from both of them. But either Sam or he, James, ensured that it didn’t get out of control. And since the incident Natasha spent almost every night here with Steve and James was frustrated because he could _hear_ them. 

In those last weeks he spent most of his evenings in Maria’s bar, drinking and playing darts with a few of the guys there. Sometimes Sam was here with him but Steve and Natasha spent more and more time together since the incident. They went out with the boat every day but as soon as they have unloaded their catch Steve went with Natasha to her apartment or she with him to his house. Sometimes though, when they were out on the boat, he had the feeling as if someone would watch him but he couldn’t see said someone.

Unfortunately, instead of Clint he also saw more of Brock Rumlow than he would care for. When they left their boat he was at the harbor, when he was in the supermarket, Rumlow was there, when he left the bar, he often _stumbled_ upon the other man. It was almost as if he followed him. 

“Hey, Maria,” he greeted this Friday evening when he flopped down on his favorite bar stool. Without asking Maria fetched a bottle of beer, opened it and placed it in front of him. 

“Hey, Barnes,” she said, a smirk on her face. “You look like something the cat dragged in.” 

James snorted. “You always say this,” he muttered and took a long sip from his bottle. 

“Because it’s true,” she said and leaned both her arms onto the bar. “What’s wrong?” 

“It’s… Steve… and… Natasha… and…” he almost added ‘and Clint’ but no one was supposed to know about him. “The two of them always stick together and… his house is old and has paper-thin walls and…” he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Maria laughed. “That’s not funny,” he grouched. “And then… then there’s Rumlow,” he added with a sigh. 

“What’s with him?” Maria asked curiously. They had talked about Rumlow a few times since he had asked a few weeks ago. Maria was an abundant source of gossip, everyone in Vandervoort knew that.

“I don’t know. I ran into him thrice today and if I was paranoid, I’d say he follows me,” James said and took a sip from his beer. 

“Yeah, you’re right. You sound paranoid. Vandervoort is like a one-horse town. You cannot not stumble upon the same people all the time,” Maria said with a grin, nodded at another customer and went over to him to give him another beer. Only a minute later she was back.

“Okay, Bucky,” she said. “Rumlow… he’s only interested in money. You know his family is already stinking rich but everything they do is to get more money. If he really follows you, then probably because he thinks you have something valuable he wants.”

“What? Me? I’m a college dropout with a badly paid job. And the only reason I’m still here is because Steve needs a crew on his boat. The most valuable thing I own is my bike,” he said, his brows raised and the beer in his hands. 

“No, there has to be something else,” Maria said and shook her head. 

“Oh my god!” James blurted because suddenly it hit him. There was one thing that was really valuable. Or better, not a thing, a _person_! Clint! Rumlow and his crew were not far away when they fished Clint out of the sea and then one of their boats appeared when Clint was with him. What if he had seen him? And now… “Oh my god,” he said again.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Maria said now and furrowed her brows. “You okay?” 

“No, not really,” he said. “I guess I know what he wants,” he added then. He reached into the pocket of his pants, searched for some money and threw it onto the bar before he hurried out. 

“Hey, Bucky!” Maria yelled after him but he didn’t wait, he just went to his bike and drove away as fast as possible. 

He stopped in front of Steve’s house and ran to the door but there was no light in the windows and he was pretty sure that Steve was over at Natasha’s. But maybe… maybe they were here… in the bedroom. 

“Steve!” He yelled at the foot of the stairs. “Steve!” No answer. “Steve, are you here?” 

He ran up the stairs and banged at Steve’s bedroom door. Still no answer. He pressed his ear against the door but no sound. “Shit,” he cursed, took a deep breath and opened it. He had to be sure. No Steve in his bedroom, no Steve in his bathroom. No Steve at all. “Dammit!” 

James grabbed his phone, dialed and pressed it against his ear but Steve didn’t answer. “Dammit, dammit, dammit,” James muttered. He dialed again. It rang three times and then he heard Sam’s voice. 

“Hey, Sam. Where are you?” He asked.

Sam huffed. “I’m with my parents,” he said after a moment. “Did something happen?” 

“No, it’s… I mean…” He stopped for a moment. “No, I… I just… I wanted to ask if I can have your boat,” he asked. 

“It’s night,” Sam said. James huffed in frustration. 

“I know. I want to take it tomorrow,” he lied and after another long moment Sam sighed.

“Okay. But don’t do anything dumb, Bucky,” he added and James shook his head, remembered that Sam couldn’t see him and said, “I won’t.” 

He quit the call, put the phone on the counter to put on his waterproof clothes before he ran out to his motorcycle and drove to the marina. He ran to Sam’s boat, searched for the keys, started the engine and just wanted to untie it when a boot appeared beside the mooring ring. 

“Hey, Barnes,” he heard the snarling voice of one Brock Rumlow and he jumped back with a start. He looked up and saw not only him but also a few guys from his crew beside him, grinning evilly and some of them had guns in their hands. James’ mouth went dry. 

“Rumlow,” he forced himself to say and looked up at the men on the pier. “What do you want?” 

“Oh, you know what I want,” he said with a grin. “But now that you know I can’t let you go and warn it,” he added. 

“Move! Out of the boat!” Another one, a thug called Griffin, snapped and aimed his gun at him, James. Carefully to not startle them he reached for the keys and killed the engine. “I said, move!” Griffin repeated and finally James obeyed. 

“Okay, okay, I’m coming,” he said. “But you know I haven’t seen him for weeks. I don’t know where he is,” he added and looked at Rumlow, ignoring Griffin and his gun. The other three men watched them but none of them aimed at James. They just held their guns in their hands, waiting what Rumlow or Griffin would do. 

“I know, we followed you the last weeks,” Rumlow said with that ugly grin he usually wore on his face. “But I have an idea how to find him.” 

“What…” James started but Griffin stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. 

“This way,” he said. James looked at the man and he was as determined as Rumlow. He pointed up to the parking area with his gun. For a moment James thought about jumping into the water but that was only his last resort since he couldn’t swim. Maybe he could escape when they were up there. But Rumlow wasn’t as dumb as he looked like. He gestured at another guy, Jack or John or Joe or something like that, and he came to James with a rope in his hand. And if there was one thing these fishermen were really good at then it was tying knots. Maybe he should call for help but at this time no one was around here anymore, only the guard at the entrance to the marina who had let him in. But James was pretty sure that Rumlow had bribed him to look in the other direction.

When Jack, John or Joe tied his hands in front of him he could feel the rough rope bite into his skin but he gritted his teeth. 

“What are you up to?” He asked when Rumlow and Griffin grabbed his arms and led him to one of the refrigerated trucks from his fish factory. James struggled but when Jack, John or Joe hit him with his gun on the back of his head Rumlow turned around and glared at him.

“Cut that crap, Jeff. We need him alive,” he snarled. Okay, it was Jeff. But at least he was close. 

Nevertheless, he was still tied and kidnapped at gunpoint. And now his head hurt like a motherfucker. 

One of the guys opened the cargo area of the truck and jumped in. James struggled even more now, tried to kick his kidnappers but when Rumlow pressed the muzzle of his gun against his hip he stopped. “We need you alive, idiot, not able to walk,” he snarled. James swallowed hard. Together the men managed to get him into the cargo area and as soon as he was in, Griffin grabbed another rope, threaded it through the bonds around his wrists and tied him to one of the hooks in the ceiling of the truck. James tried to get out of it immediately but the man knew how to tie knots. It was futile. 

“You can’t do that, Rumlow,” he eventually snapped and the other man just laughed. 

“Well, it seems I _can_ do it. I’m already doing it,” he snorted. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to stay here for long.” he added, checked the bonds and when they were okay he left the cargo area and closed the door. 

“Rumlow! Rumlow, you asshole!” James yelled after him. He struggled again, tried to free himself but the knots were really tight. And the beginning panic grew steadily. He had no idea what these fuckers had planned and no one knew where he was except Sam but Sam wouldn’t be back before Monday. What if their plan was successful? What would they do to Clint? “Rumlow!”

Only a minute later he heard the engine of the truck and it started to sway and only the fact that he was tied to a hook in the ceiling kept him on his feet. Whoever drove the truck - Rumlow? - drove really fast. 

“Dammit!” He cursed again. The trip didn’t take long and he had a good idea where he was now. The harbor on the other side of the town. The driver killed the engine and another minute later the door went open again. And he was right, they were at the pier that led to the ‘Hydra’. Griffin and Jeff came in, untied him and dragged him to the boat. He saw someone on another pier and this time he didn’t hold back.

“Help!!” He screamed. Jeff once again hit the back of his head but this time not with the grip of his pistol. 

“Shut up! That’s just Bennett.” Griffin laughed. Everyone knew Bennett. The old man lived on his equally old, rusty trawler, was deaf as a door post and drunk most of the time. Rumlow was already aboard of the ‘Hydra’ and grinned, when Griffin and Jeff dragged him onto the boat, too. 

“You won’t get away with that,” James spat. Rumlow raised a brow.

“Is that so?” He asked, his arms folded over his chest and an amused grin on his face. 

“Steve will…” James started but Rumlow interrupted him with a snort.

“Steve,” he said and it sounded like a curse. “Steve will do nothing. And do you want to know why? Because you’ve borrowed your friend’s boat and you had a tragic accident and drowned. He will be busy grieving about his friend.” 

“You are completely nuts, Rumlow!” James spat and the other man laughed again.

“Yeah, that’s quite possible. And soon I’m very rich, too. I know someone who’s going to pay a fortune for your _friend_ ,” he said. 

“You want to sell him?” He blurted and stared at Rumlow disbelievingly. 

“It’s a fish. We sell fish,” Rumlow shrugged. 

“You asshole! He’s…” James spat but once again a hit to the back of his head stopped him. 

“Mark, gag him. He bores me,” Rumlow said and walked away. A thin, lanky guy with long oily hair came over with a dirty hanky in his hand. He grinned and James could see that he was missing a tooth.

“No way,” James snarled at him and shook his head but the two men who held him forced him to open his mouth. Mark tied the hanky behind his head. Together they brought him into the cabin and tied him to a chair. James still tried to struggle but they were three and he was alone and tied up. When he was secured the men left and locked the door. 

_’Fuck,’_ he thought and threw his head back to stare at the ceiling for a moment. 

He heard the engine start and desperately tried to get out of the bonds. Once again it was futile. These guys have learned to tie knots in kindergarten and he was on Steve’s crew for two years. No one knew where he was, no one expected him. He would drown out there and maybe a fisherboat would find his body one day. 

James huffed in frustration but then he had an idea. The chair! It was made of wood, he should be able to destroy it, right? He tried to rise which wasn’t easy with his legs tied to the legs of the chair and then he let himself fall back. The plan was that the chair would break. Unfortunately he didn’t manage to fall onto the legs of the chair to destroy it but on his side instead and now he lay on the ground, still tied to the godawful chair and still no way to get out of the ties. And no one bothered to look after him. He tried to move but in this position it was not only impossible, it was also painful since he lay on his tied hand. But at least he could get rid of the gag, he used his shoulder to shove it away and he could breath more easily now.

The boat drove for some time, he had no idea how much, but eventually the sound of the engines died down and a few moments later Rumlow came in, followed by Griffin and one of the other guys. 

“Why are you lying on the floor, Barnes?” Rumlow asked with an evil smirk on his face. 

“I like the perspective,” James snapped and Rumlow chuckled, nodded at Griffin and together with the other guy they hoist him up. They untied him, retied his hands in front of him and James tried to struggle once more but Griffin was a monster, he was as strong as an ox. “Let the fuck go of me!” 

“Nope,” Griffin said. Together they dragged him on deck and James saw water all around them. He had no idea where they were but he couldn’t see the land anymore. Even if he could swim, he would have no idea in which direction he should swim. 

“Hey!” Rumlow went to the railing, stared onto the water and yelled. “Fishguy!” He took his gun and shot a few times into the water. James’ mouth went dry. _’Please, god, if you exist, don’t let Clint show up!’_ He silently prayed. 

“Hey, fish face!” Rumlow stared at the dark water but he couldn’t see a thing. He cursed silently, turned, gave someone a sign and said someone switched on a spotlight. They searched the water surface but still, nothing to see. 

“He’s not here,” James chuckled and Rumlow turned angrily. 

“Do you know where we are?” He asked and James shrugged a bit. “Here you fished him out of the water,” he said then. “I’ve seen you and I’ve seen him.” 

James swallowed hard and tried again to get out of Griffin’s grip. Rumlow still stared onto the water surface and the someone with the spotlight let the light wander over it, too. But Clint was nowhere to be seen. But apparently Rumlow ran out of patience. 

“Fish face!” He screamed again and when nothing happened he turned angrily to him, James, and glared at him. “Well, apparently he doesn’t care about you,” he snapped. “Let’s see if that works,” he said, seemingly without context, and just as James wanted to ask what he meant, Rumlow turned around, his gun raised and shot him in the left thigh. 

James screamed painfully and slumped down. It hurt like hell, blood seeped out and ran along his leg onto the deck. Faintly he thought he heard a familiar trilling. Rumlow nodded at Griffin and the huge guy dragged James to the railing. 

“No!” He yelled and tried to struggle once more. But now, with that bullet hole in his thigh it was almost impossible. 

“Fish face! Here’s a present,” Rumlow yelled and gave Griffin another nod. Together with the other guy, who stood beside them, the huge bastard lifted him, James, over the railing. 

“No!” James panted, close to a panic attack. They would throw him into the water and he would drown. “No!” And then they let go of him. 

James fell and only a second later he hit the cold water. He gasped, tried to get air into his lungs and stay above the surface with his head. But with his hands tied and a hole in his leg and his general inability to swim he had no chance. The ice cold water seemed to suck him down and James’ panic got even worse. He struggled and felt the need for air in his lungs. He would drown here without a chance. But just when he thought he would die he felt hands grab him around his chest. He couldn’t see anyone but hear a trilling again and it sounded so beautiful under water. 

And then his head breached the water surface and he sucked air into his lungs greedily. The trilling sounded again and this time it was panicked. James had no idea why but when his head cleared a bit he could feel something rough in his face. 

“Leave!” He panted when he realized that it was a net but it was too late, it closed already around them. Clint, because it was him who had saved him, tried to submerge and he could hear that beautiful yet panicked trilling again. But it was too late. Rumlow and his crew already hauled in the net and he and Clint were trapped. The merman reached for the knife he had strapped to his arm, the knife James had given him, and tried to cut them out. But they already hit the deck of boat. Clint trilled again panicked, struggled, tried to get out of the net but not only Griffin but three more guys were already on him. They tried to get the knife out his hand but the merman didn’t give up. One of the men stumbled back with a deep gash on his chest. James tried to get out of the net, too, but he was too entangled in the meshes. 

“Hold him!” Rumlow bellowed. Griffin managed to grab one of Clint’s hands but Clint lashed out with the knife and cut him, too. “Goddammit! Hold him!” 

Clint trilled once more and used his fluke to defend himself and Jeff went over board. James couldn’t stop staring at him in awe, he almost forgot to try to free himself. Rumlow looked over his shoulder, saw the chain they used to haul in the net and went to undo it. “Don’t let him go,” he snapped at Griffin and the other men while James still tried to get out of the goddamn net. Griffin had gotten another cut from Clint who fought desperately against the men who still tried to grab him. But then Rumlow went to him with the chain in his hand. He gestured at one of the guys and together they grabbed Clint’s fluke, wrapped the chain around it and closed it with a hook. 

“Daniel!” He yelled and a winch started to straighten the chain. Clint struggled in panic, lashed out even more and cut Rumlow’s leg. The man cursed and kicked at Clint’s hand and the knife out of it. 

“Buckee!” Clint screamed panicked and looked at him pleadingly when the chain lifted him up. 

“Oh, it can speak,” Rumlow said with a chuckle but he held his thigh where the merman had cut him.

“Let him go, you fucking asshole!” James yelled at him. Rumlow seemed to realize that he was here, too, and he raised a brow and turned to Griffin.

“Throw him back in the water,” he said drily. 

“No! Buckee!” Clint screamed again and then he trilled once more. Griffin and Jeff grabbed James, still entangled in the net and carried him to the railing. He struggled and squirmed but he had no chance and a moment later he hit the water surface again. And this time his chances were even worse. Not only was he still tied and injured, now he was also entangled in this goddamn net. The last thing he saw was the spotlight dancing over the water surface before it went dark around him.


	5. Chapter 5

James fought and struggled but he was sinking like a stone. The need for air was burning in his lungs and he closed his eyes, ready to let go.

And then suddenly he felt hands grabbing him again. He snapped open his eyes, the remaining air left his lungs and he almost breathed in. He felt a body behind him, hands around his chest and someone pressed lips on his. James wanted to yell but the unknown someone blew air into his mouth. He stopped struggling when the hands wrapped around his chest once more and it felt as if he was lifted out of the water. 

When he finally breached the water surface he sucked in the air greedily and looked around frantically. But then he remembered his savior and he turned his head to look at… a dark silhouette, only visible because the half moon shone.

“You… all right?” A female voice asked him. 

“Yes.” He breathed and nodded. “Thanks.” He added then. 

“Stay still,” the woman said and grabbed him around his chest again. James nodded once more and the woman started to _swim_. He could feel her strong fishtail working steadily in the water and he was pretty sure no human could swim this fast. Whenever he tried to talk to her she only said ‘soon’ and kept swimming.

He had no idea how much time had passed but eventually they arrived at the coast and James hobbled out of the water. He slumped down in the sand and breathed hard. “Thank you,” he wheezed after a few minutes and sat up. The woman was still there, sat on the beach with her fluke in the water and stared at him. He tried to get out of the net but he was so entangled he couldn’t move his hands properly. The mermaid watched him a few minutes before she sighed and crawled over to him. In the sparse moonlight he could see her reach for her arm and then she had something in her hand and started to cut the meshes. It wasn’t a _real_ knife, it seemed to be made out of bone or something else he couldn’t identify. But it was sharp and made short work of the net and the rope around his wrists. “Thank you,” he said again. 

“You… Buckee?” She asked and James cocked his head.

“Yes,” he said and nodded. “You know who I am?” 

“Cilinth often… talk,” she said and pointed at him. “Now… danger.” 

“I know. I have to find him and free him. I won’t imagine what Rumlow does to him,” he said gravely and the woman nodded. “Where are we by the way? How far away is the town? And who are you?” 

“Land,” the mermaid said, then she pointed in a direction. “Town,” she said and at last she pointed at her nose and said, “Baowrbai.” 

“Why do all of you have to have so complicated names,” he muttered, grabbed the rope the mermaid just had cut and used it to stanch the flow of blood. He gritted his teeth because it hurt like a motherfucker. “Bow… Bobbi?” He tried. He knew it wasn’t the same word the mermaid had used but it was as close as he could manage. She half nodded, half shrugged. 

“How far away is the town?” He repeated his question. The mermaid pursed her lips and raised a hand, showed him her thumb and index finger, only about an inch apart. 

“Little,” she said. So, not far away, he assumed. 

“Okay, I’ll go and…” he started but the mermaid shook her head. 

“Help,” she said. James huffed in frustration. Clint’s English wasn’t really good but hers was even worse. 

“Yes, Clint needs help and that’s what…” he started again and once more she shook her head, this time more vehemently than before. 

“Help… you,” she said then. 

“How? How can you help me?” He asked and wanted to get up. His leg hurt and he almost slumped down when he tried to rise. The mermaid slid closer to him, using her fluke to move and she could move quite fast with it. When she sat beside him she looked at him for a moment, her _knife_ in her hand. James nodded and she cut open his pants to look at the wound. Carefully she touched his leg and pursed her lips.

“Stone… in it,” she said. James frowned. Stone? But it was quite possible that they had no idea what a bullet was and so he nodded again. 

“Yes, it hurts,” he admitted. She lifted the knife without waiting for his consent and James screamed, when she cut out the projectile. She was careful, he had to admit, but without sedation it hurt like a motherfucker. 

“Almost,” she murmured. And then she let something drop into the sand beside him. James looked and saw the dark thing, the projectile, lying there. The mermaid looked around, reached for the rope he had had around his wrists and used it to stop the blood flow by tying it around his leg above the wound. 

He realized that she touched his legs more than necessary and when he looked up she removed her hands immediately. 

“Thanks,” he murmured. She touched his face and James was startled. 

“Find… Cilinth,” she said. “Bring… back.” 

“Is he… is he your lover?” He asked, he needed to know. She cocked her head. Apparently she had no idea what she meant. “I mean, are you and him…” he gestured with his hands to try to show her what he meant. “Together?” 

“Cilinth… milter?” She asked and James blushed violently. But Bobbi laughed the same way Clint used to laugh and shook her head. “No… brother,” she said then. And somehow he was relieved to hear that. “Fjiourie father, all sisters and brothers,” she told him earnestly. “Cilinth… brother. Need help.” 

“I know. I’ll find him and bring him back to you and your family,” he said. The mermaid nodded and hobbled back to the water and vanished only a second later.

***

“Oh god, Bucky!” Natasha ran over to him and hunkered down beside him. “Do you know how long we searched for you? What happened?” She looked at him and in the faint light of dawn she saw the huge bloodstain on his shredded pants. He lay on the edge of the cliff he had just managed to climb up to get back to the town. “Oh my god, you’re bleeding!”

“Rumlow,” he panted and Natasha sat up straight beside him. “He shot me,” he said. 

“What?!” She blurted.

“He… he has Clint,” James tried to sit up, too, but he was too exhausted to do more that lie on his back. “He… he has Clint.” 

“You weren’t at Steve’s house when we came and your bike was at the marina but Sam’s boat was there and we were worried. What happened?” Natasha wanted to know but she already had her phone in her hand and dialed. 

“Rumlow… he kidnapped me, used me as bait to get Clint,” he gasped and once again tried to sit up. 

“Lie still,” Natasha commanded and then apparently Steve took the call. “Yeah, Steve, I have him... we’re atop of Horse Pen Bay… yeah, bring your truck, he’s injured… not now, move your ass, I’ll call Bruce… yes, Steve, it’s serious… and now move your ass and fetch us!” 

“I have to find him,” James said and tried to get up. But his leg hurt so badly now and to climb up that damn cliff just made it worse.

“I know, but you need a doctor first,” Natasha said and looked him over again. She furrowed her brows when she saw him still wet. “Have you been in the water?” 

“Rumlow threw me overboard,” he admitted. 

“What? But… how… you can’t swim!” Natasha almost yelled now and James realized how worried she was. She usually never showed her emotions. 

“I… someone helped me.” James tried again to sit up and this time he managed it. “Clint… Clint’s sister saved me,” he said.

“Sister? A… a mermaid?” Natasha sat beside him, held her phone in her hand. 

“Yes, she was a mermaid and her name was something that sounded like Bobbi. She saved me and she cut out the bullet,” he said.

“I’ll kill that asshole,” Natasha muttered but she dialed again. “Yeah, Bruce, it’s me, Natasha… we need you… can you come to Steve’s house?... And bring your bag… no, we can’t go to the hospital… it’s complicated… okay, see you in a few.” 

“Oh, god… he has Clint, Nat,” James said again and tried to rise once more. “We need to find him.” 

“But how…” Natasha started but interrupted herself immediately. “He had seen him, right? That day when we fished him out of the water,” James nodded. “I’ll kill that asshole but at first I’m going to castrate him.” 

“What do you think he is up to? What is he going to do with Clint?” He asked.

Natasha sighed. “I have no idea,” she said. “I mean, he’s crazy. I…” They got interrupted by Steve’s Pick-Up. 

“What happened?” He asked as soon as he was within earshot.

“Rumlow kidnapped him, shot him in the leg and threw him into the water,” Natasha said. 

“And he has Clint,” James added. Steve looked from him to Natasha and back. 

“I kill him,” he pressed through his teeth and wanted to turn around but Natasha’s hand on his arm stopped him.

“Yes, and I’m going to help you, but for now, can you give me a hand? We need to get him to the car,” she said and pointed at him, James. Steve gnashed his teeth but then he nodded, leaned down, placed one of James’ arms over his shoulder. Natasha did the same on his other side and together they managed to lift him up and drag him to the car. 

“We need to find Clint. We need to save him,” James said on the way up to the Pick-Up. 

“I know, Bucky,” Steve wheezed. “We find him. And then I skin Rumlow alive.” 

Together Steve and Natasha helped James into the Pick-Up. He winced because it hurt like hell. Steve hurried around and climbed behind the wheel while Natasha went to her bike. 

“We’ll find him, Buck,” Steve said when he started the engine. Both men watched Natasha speed off and James knew she would drive to Steve’s house to let Bruce in. 

“He was so scared,” James whispered and swallowed. “And I… I… I couldn’t help him.” He turned to look at Steve but the other man didn’t look back, he held his eyes on the dark, bumpy road that led to the town. “They held my arms and I couldn’t help him.” 

“I’m sorry, Bucky,” Steve said quietly and now James turned his head to look at him. “I haven’t been here for you. But… Rumlow, he had hurt Natasha, he threatened to hurt her again and…” He licked over his lips and James saw that his knuckles were white where he squeezed the steering wheel. 

“It’s not your fault,” he said. Steve looked at him for a moment before he turned back to look at the road. “I hope Clint is okay.” 

Steve didn’t say a word but James noticed that he drove faster now.

***

They arrived at Steve’s house a few minutes later. Natasha’s bike was parked in front of the house and an old but well cared for BMW 1600 stood in the driveway. It was Bruce’s car and he loved it to pieces, so to speak. Steve parked his Pick-Up beside it and went around it to help James out of it. Bruce appeared together with Natasha and they brought James into the house where he slumped down on the couch.

“Okay, let me take a look, James,” he said and sat down beside him. He frowned when he saw the rope tied around his tigh. “What happened here? This looks like a gunshot wound.” 

James looked at Steve for a moment. Bruce was his friend but he had no idea how far he could trust him. After all, doctors needed to report gunshot wounds. But he also knew that Steve trusted him and so he tried to trust him, too. 

“It was Rumlow,” Steve said and sat down on the armchair to watch the two of them. Bruce nodded and pressed his lips together. Apparently he wasn’t the biggest fan of Rumlow as well. 

“I guess I don’t want to know why he shot you?” He asked and Steve shook his head. 

“Not really, no,” he said. Bruce nodded and reached for his bag, opened it and started to rummage through it. But when he held a forceps in his hand James stopped him.

“The projectile isn’t in it anymore,” he told him. Bruce furrowed his brows. “Did you remove it yourself?” 

“What? No, I had help,” he said and Bruce nodded again. 

“Okay, then I will only have to clean it, put in a few stitches and bandage it. You’ve had luck it’s only a flesh wound and no main arteries are damaged. Otherwise you’d be in the morgue now,” he said, put the forceps back and started to clean the wound. James winced and Bruce raised a brow. “Do you need something for the pain?” 

James shook his head. He would hold out, he couldn’t risk to get knocked out, not now, not with Clint in danger. But when the pain became too intense Bruce stopped. 

“It’s a gunshot wound, James. I can’t stitch it up when you can’t keep still. I’ll give you a local anesthetic and then…” 

“No!” James sat up and shook his head. “I… I can’t… I need to get up and…” 

“You _can’t_ get up immediately,” Bruce sighed and sat back. “It’s a gunshot wound and not a paper cut. You have to at least give it a few days rest so it can start to heal before you can walk around again,” he added. 

“What? No! No, no, no… I need to…” he started but now Steve came over and he shook his head, his arms folded over his chest. 

“No way, Buck. You have to give your leg time to heal and we, Nat and me and Sam when he’s back, will search for him,” he said. Bruce, who had no idea whom they talked about, looked from him to Steve and back. 

“But…” James started again and now Natasha rose as well. She came over and sat down on the armrest of the armchair Steve had had used only minutes before. 

“Bucky, you can’t help him right now. Not with that hole in your leg,” she said. “But we can. We can find out what Rumlow is up to and…” 

“Sorry to interrupt you but I have to ask… well… since I’m here and can hear everything…” Bruce said and he seemed worried. He still held the needle in his hand he used to stitch up James’ leg. “But if there’s something illegal going on, I don’t want to know about it,” he added. 

“No, it’s…” Steve started, stopped, pinched the bridge of his nose and flopped back down at the armchair. “Rumlow… he _stole_ something and we want to get it back,” he said carefully. Bruce looked at him and raised a brow. 

“Something,” he said slowly and nodded. “I’m not as dumb as I may look, guys, but this is definitely not _something_ ,” he said and made air quotes. “So, if it’s something illegal then you better don’t tell me, I don’t wanna know.” 

“It’s illegal what Rumlow did,” James muttered and felt Steve’s gaze on him again. But he knew that he couldn’t tell Bruce about Clint. No one would believe him. 

“Okay,” Bruce nodded. “I’m done in a few minutes. Then I’ll be out of your hair and you can talk,” he said with a small smile. “I just… it’s already illegal not to report your gunshot wound and… I can’t risk to get involved in something…” he stopped and waved with his hand. 

“That’s okay, Bruce,” Steve said and nodded. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “We are thankful that you patch him up and we don’t want to endanger you more than necessary.” 

Bruce looked at Steve for a long moment and then he nodded. And turned back to James, a syringe in his hand. James glared at him for a long moment but then he nodded, once, short, and Bruce injected the liquid into his leg around the wound. It didn’t take long and he felt the pain subside. Bruce waited till he nodded again but then he finished to stitch him up and bandaged the wound. 

“Whoever had removed the bullet and applied that tourniquet saved your life and you should thank them,” he said when he rose and put his stuff back into his bag. 

“Yes, I will do that,” James said quietly and looked at his leg. “How long…” 

“At least two days only with crutches. Do you have crutches?” Bruce looked around. Steve nodded. Yes, they had crutches. Steve had broken his ankle last year and he had to walk with crutches six weeks. 

“Okay, then I will leave you,” he rose but before he opened the door he stopped, put his bag down on the small table behind the door, opened it and rummaged through the contents. He found a bottle with pills and threw them in Steve’s direction, who caught them without problems. “That’s for the pain. And don’t try to play hero, take them,” he said. 

“Thanks, Bruce,” Natasha said now. 

Bruce nodded again, grabbed his bag and opened the door, only to stop dead in his tracks. In front of the door stood Phil Coulson, his hand clenched to a fist and raised as if he wanted to knock at the door just the moment Bruce had opened it. 

“Hello,” he said with his usual friendly but bland smile. 

“Phil?” Steve furrowed his brows, rose and walked over to the door. Bruce squeezed past him to go but Coulson still stayed in front of the door. “What brings you here? Come in.” Steve said and gestured at the man to enter the house. 

“Hello,” he said again and nodded in his and Natasha’s direction. “I need to talk to you.” 

“Okay, what’s the problem?” James wanted to know now. 

“An old friend of mine contacted me and asked me for my help and that’s why I’m here,” Coulson explained. “One of his sons is missing and he said that you know him. And now I’m here because you have to help me get him back.”


	6. Chapter 6

“Where are we?” James asked as soon as he had left Coulson’s car. Steve, who sat beside him on the back seat, gave him his crutches and he hobbled away from the black SUV. Natasha, who was on the passenger’s seat, closed his door, too, and looked around curiously. 

“That’s my private boathouse,” Coulson said. He pointed at the wooden house that was partly built in the water. The other part was still ashore and they could see a cobbled driveway to the big barn door. A boat trailer with an expensive looking yacht on it was parked beside the boathouse. 

“That’s your house?” James asked and pointed with his chin at the Bauhaus style villa they had passed just a few moments ago. He knew the man only because Steve sold his fish to him, he had never found out where he lived. 

“Yes,” Coulson shrugged. “I know it’s a little bit out-of-town but I love my privacy,” he said and James nodded. The property was huge, it was fenced in with a sturdy looking gate and the next neighbor was a five minutes drive with the car away. If there was one thing he definitely had here it was privacy. 

“And what are we doing here? Why don’t we meet your friend in the house?” Steve asked and Coulson chuckled. 

“Follow me,” he said instead of an answer. Together they went to the boathouse and Coulson unlocked it. This guy seemed to be really paranoid given that the boat wasn’t even inside of the boathouse. He opened the door and went in. It wasn’t dark inside, even if it was still night. A tiny lamp shone at the far end, close to the door to the ocean and a man sat there, no, not a man… it was a merman. And it was probably the most unusual merman one could expect. He was bald and had a dark skin and his fishtail was completely black. He sat on a crate but his fluke was still in the water and he moved it slightly back and forth. 

“Nihilaiise,” Coulson said quietly as soon as they were closer and the merman turned his head. “These are Steve, James and Natasha,” he introduced them. 

“Hello,” Steve greeted him but James needed a little longer to get to the far end of the boat house. 

“May I introduce Nihilaiise, the Fjiourie of the Shileth Clan,” Coulson said and the merman nodded his head in some sort of greeting.

“So, which one of you is Bucky?” The merman asked and James stopped dead in his tracks. Not only could he pronounce his nickname correctly he also spoke English with almost no accent.

“Uhm… that’s me, Sir,” he said and then he almost slapped himself but the ‘Sir’ just slipped out. Natasha turned around and looked at him, her head tilted to the side and a brow raised. But Coulson, who stood beside her, had a very amused smirk on his lips. 

“Tell me what happened to Cilinth,” the merman demanded and James straightened his back, grabbed his crutches and hobbled closer so he didn’t have to yell through the whole boat house. When he was close enough he could see that one of the merman’s eyes was milky white and probably blind but the other one was directed at him and he felt a little nervous. 

“Sir, I… I am sorry for what happened and…” he started but when Coulson shook his head he cleared his throat. And then James told the merman everything that happened from the moment they accidentally fished Clint out of the water. 

“Baowrbai heard Cilinth calling for help, otherwise you would be dead now,” the merman said with a slow nod. “Fortunately for you I sent her to bring him back.” 

“Why?” James blurted and the merman cocked his head and scrutinized him again. 

“He was defiant because I forbade him to see you again. He went nevertheless,” Nihilaiise said and took a deep breath. “He’s… stubborn.” 

“You… you forbade him to see me? But… but why?” 

“Look at yourself. You’re a human, he’s a mer. What do you think?” 

James looked at his feet. He was right. It was his fault that Clint got captured. 

“But you can help him now,” the merman continued after only a moment. “You can help him where we cannot.” 

“I…” he started and looked up, “I will do whatever is necessary. And I will kill the guy who kidnapped him. I promise to find him and bring him back,” James said and he meant it. And he didn’t even think about the fact that he had a hole in his leg and needed crutches to walk straight. But the merman just nodded. 

“I know you will,” he said. 

“Nick, he’s injured,” Coulson threw in and all heads turned to him. He had just called the merman _Nick_.

“It is his fault that Cilinth is kidnapped. He endangered not only my son but also my whole clan, Phil. He endangered you,” the merman snapped now. 

“Phil?” Steve asked now and looked at him.

“I’m their protector but if people knew about me…” he didn’t finish his sentence but they all knew what would happen if people found out that he protected a clan of mermaids. “But I can help you to help Cilinth,” he added then. 

The merman nodded and moved to the water. “You will contact me when you know more, Phiaouipe,” he said and looked at Coulson. 

“Yes, father,” he replied and the merman disappeared with an elegant jump into the dark water. 

“Father?” Steve cocked his head and scrutinized Coulson now. 

“It’s… a long story,” he said with a sigh and looked at all of them. But then he shook his head for a moment and sighed again. “Follow me.” 

He led them out of the boat house and up to the villa. James was baffled. He had never expected that this man would live in such a huge house, after all he knew about him, he was alone, had no wife or family. Or a boyfriend. 

The inside of the house was spacious with a huge living room with lots of couches and loungers and armchairs and footstools. James furrowed his brows. There was even a small pool in one corner of the room. He had never seen such a strange interior. 

“Take a seat… wherever you want,” Coulson said and gestured at the many couches. He left the room through one of the doors and James hobbled to a couch and flopped down. He sighed with relief and put his injured leg up on a footstool. 

“Have you ever been here, Steve?” Natasha asked. Steve looked around as curious as the two of them and shook his head. 

“No,” he said. “I always met him in his office or at the harbor, sometimes in Maria’s bar.” 

“Why does…” James started but he closed his mouth immediately when Coulson opened the door and came back. He had a tray in his hands with four cups, sugar and milk on it. He placed the tray on one of the coffee tables. 

“I’ve made coffee,” he said and handed out the cups to them. James thanked him and sat back. But Coulson didn’t sit down, he went to a cupboard, opened it, fetched a bottle of whiskey and brought it back to the table. He poured a dash into his cup before he gave the bottle to Steve who did the same. They all did. 

“You called him father,” James said when he had emptied his mug and put it down on the coffee table. 

“Yes,” Coulson said with a nod and finally sat down. “We all do,” he added then. “I am the protector of the clan. It’s a sign of respect.” 

“So, and what’s with the name?” James asked and Coulson huffed a small laugh.

“You have problems to pronounce their names, right? And they have the same problems with our names. My name is Phillip and Phiaouipe is the closest they manage. Most of the time he calls me Phil, though,” he said. He didn’t look at them. 

“What does that mean you’re their protector?” Natasha wanted to know. 

“What do you think?” Coulson asked, his head tilted slightly to the side. But then he let out the breath audibly. “I make sure that their hunting grounds are safe, I allay suspicions that they even exist - and I failed miserably with you or Rumlow I have to admit - and I patch them up if they are injured,” he counted on his fingers and then he looked around and sighed. “And I help them when they give birth,” he added then and suddenly all the stuff in the living room made sense. 

“You… what?” Natasha blurted and Coulson smiled that tiny smile. 

“Mer differ from humans,” he said slowly. “They don’t have children whenever they want. They have mating cycles. Every five years they meet with another clan for mating and then, seven months later, they come here to give birth. They are safe here and they can nurse their babies till they are old enough to get back to the ocean,” he explained. But then he looked at them intently. “No one may ever know that!” 

“Of course,” James confirmed without hesitation. He had seen what Rumlow had done to Clint and he couldn’t - and wouldn’t - imagine what he would do to helpless baby mermaids. “Can… can I ask you a question?” He said then.

“Only one?” Coulson huffed a small laugh but he gestured with his finger for him to continue with his question. 

“You… call them ‘mer’?” he said. Coulson nodded again.

“Yes, that’s what they call themselves,” he said. “The term mermaid - or merman - is a human term,” he said. Bucky nodded. 

“And… you said they meet with other clans for…” he felt the heat rise in his cheeks but apparently Coulson understood what he wanted to ask because he answered before he had to finish the sentence. 

“Mating,” he said. “Yes, that’s necessary. The clans can’t mate within their own clan. It’s necessary to avoid inbreeding. The clans are small,” he said. “There are about fifty mer in the Shileth clan and… you can imagine what would happen if they chose their partners within their clan.” 

“There aren’t many mer around, are there?” Steve asked and Coulson huffed a bitter laugh now. 

“No,” he said. “Maritime pollution, overfishing and extensive seatravel destroyed their habitats. And lots of them were simply killed by humans. We assume that there are…” he pinched the bridge of his nose and had a pained expression on his face. “We assume that there are less than five thousands left. Worldwide,” he said then. 

“Oh my god,” James said quietly. 

“But now we have to find Clint, right?” Natasha said and Coulson nodded slowly. 

“You said Rumlow has him,” he looked at him, James. 

“Yes,” he confirmed. “But I have no idea where and what…” 

“He can’t keep him somewhere here in the town,” Coulson said and started to pace. “He has to keep him somewhere outside but he can’t keep him forever because he knows…” 

“He thinks I’m dead,” James interrupted him and Coulson pursed his lips. 

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” he said, stopped and looked at them. “That’s good. As long as he thinks that you are dead he isn’t in a hurry because no one knows about Cilinth,” he added then.

“But he said he knows someone who wants to… who wants to buy him,” James said and he shuddered at the thought that someone would want to buy Clint as if he was just an item, would want to hold him and…

“James,” Coulson interrupted his train of thoughts and his head snapped up. “Did he say anything about the buyer?” 

“Only that he’s very rich,” James said. 

“I guess it’s no one from here so they have to arrive at some point and they can’t take him with them in a car so I guess they’ll need at least a van or a truck to get a tank in where they can transport him in,” Natasha said. James throat went tight when he thought about that scenario. Helpless, captured, forced into a small tank and loaded into a truck, not knowing what will happen to you when the men who have you arrive at their destiny and he had to swallow hard to keep a tear from running over his face. 

“The town’s not that big,” Steve said. “We can search it for someone new.” 

“No,” Coulson shook his head. “We should let a professional do that,” he added. 

“A… professional? Like a… I don’t know… a private investigator?” Steve asked and once again Coulson shook his head, this time with a smile. 

“No, someone owes me a favor,” he said. 

“Someone?” Natasha squinted her eyes and folded her arms over her chest. 

“Logan,” Coulson said and James’ eyes almost popped out of their sockets. 

“The chief of police?” He blurted and looked at Steve, who shrugged as confused as he, James, felt right now. 

“Yes, the chief of police. We’re… _fishing buddies_ ,” - he made air qoutes - “... and… he owes me one.” He lifted one shoulder for a short moment.

“How many people do owe you favors?” Natasha wanted to know now and Coulson showed her his usual bland smile. 

“Lots of people,” he simply answered. Natasha furrowed her brows but looked at Steve now. 

“Logan is good, I’ve heard,” Steve said. “People say he knows how to find his criminals.” 

“But do you really want to involve the cops?” James asked now. “I mean, what if he finds out about…” 

“He knows,” Coulson said lapidary. “One of the clan saved his ass a few years ago.” 

“Oh,” Natasha said. “Okay, uhm…” 

“What can we do _now_?” James wanted to know. “I mean, while we’re sitting around talking Clint is… with Rumlow. And while reason tells me that he won’t harm him if he wants to sell him my gut tells me otherwise. We have to do something to…”

Coulson cleared his throat and looked at Steve and Natasha. “Could you please wait in the kitchen? I need to talk to James in private.” 

“Sure,” Steve said and rose, put his mug down on the coffee table and looked expectantly at Natasha, who scrutinized Coulson intently. But then she rose as well and followed Steve into the kitchen.

“I’m sorry, but…” Coulson stopped and took a deep breath. “I don’t know how to sugarcoat this so I’ll just ask you. Did you hear Cilinth sing?” 

James frowned but after a long moment he nodded. “Yes, actually,” he admitted. “But…” Coulson stopped him with a raised hand. 

“The myths are true, James,” he said. “You know, those stories where ships crash into rocks because the sailors heard mermaids sing?” James nodded. “They are true. If you hear the voice of a mer you feel fatally attracted to them and you want to be with them. Their voice is… addictive, so to speak. It’s not their fault, it’s just the way they are. That’s why people killed so many of them back in the days and that’s why they have to hide and no one is supposed to know they still exist.” 

“What are you trying to tell me?” James knew what he wanted to say, but he didn’t want to actually hear it. 

“You are fallen for Cilinth because you are addicted to his voice,” he said then. “Yes, he likes you… but it’s not what you think.” 

“What do you think that I think?” James asked now, his eyes squinted slightly. 

“You think this _thing_ between the two of you can work out but… you are human, he is mer, you can’t even swim and he…” Coulson stopped. “I appreciate it that you want to save him but you have to forget about him afterwards.” 

“Don’t you think that should be his decision?” James asked now and he could barely contain the anger in his voice. 

“James, I know Cilinth since he was a baby. Don’t get me wrong, I love him like… like a brother. But he’s volatile and easily thrilled and there will be the day where he just moves on and leaves you behind,” Coulson said. He didn’t look up, just stared at his hands and after a moment James nodded.

“Okay,” he said. “Just… just let us save him and then… one thing at a time, okay?” 

“You’re right.” Coulson rose, went to the door that led to the kitchen to fetch Steve and Natasha. James glared at him angrily. Sure, the guy was the protector of the clan but in the end it would be Clint’s decision. If he never wanted to see him again, then James would stay away. Clint was such a sweet, funny guy and he would definitely miss him but he would accept his decision. 

“Phil is just calling Logan,” Natasha said when she came into the living room and sat down beside him. She had refilled her cup and took a sip while looking at him. “What were you talking about?” 

James took a deep breath and looked at her then at Steve who stood indecisive in the middle of the room. His head moved from him, James, to Natasha and then to the door where Coulson just had left and back a few times. 

“He told me to stay away from Clint,” James said quietly and looked at his fingers. He took a deep breath before he turned his head to Natasha.

“Do you trust him? Coulson I mean?” He asked, ignoring Steve’s gasp. 

“Why do you ask?” Natasha wanted to know and James shrugged. 

“I don’t know. It’s… call it a feeling,” he said then. “He’s keeping something secret and I… I don’t know…” 

“I’m pretty sure he keeps a lot of things secret, Buck,” Steve said. “He’s their protector, it’s quasi the main part in the job description.” 

James nodded. “But it’s… I can’t put my finger on it, Stevie, it’s just that I have a bad feeling about him.” 

“Come on, Buck, if you’d be the protector of a clan of merfolk, wouldn’t you keep as much secret as possible, too? Even if you’d try to help?” Steve came over and flopped down beside him. “Yes, I trust him. And apparently the members of the clan trust him, too.” 

“But…” He started but stopped when Coulson entered the living room. 

“I called Logan,” he said and Steve blushed. Of course Coulson had noticed that James had stopped as soon as he entered the room. “He said he’ll start his search immediately.” 

“That’s good,” Natasha said with a nod. She took another sip from her mug before she reached for the whiskey bottle and poured some into the coffee. 

“And what can we do?” James repeated the question from earlier. 

A small smile crept on Steve’s face. “You’re not the only one who knows people, Phil. I guess I should call an old friend from college. Maybe we can need his help, too.” And when Coulson wanted to say something Steve just continued. “Don’t worry, you can trust him.” 

“Please don’t tell me it’s the one who I think it is!” Natasha blurted and Steve’s smile broadened. 

“Exactly that one,” he said. Natasha rolled her eyes. 

“May God help us!”


	7. Chapter 7

James flopped down on the couch in the living room. Steve and Natasha had brought him home before they wanted to go to the police station to meet the Chief of Police Logan. He wanted to accompany them but his leg hurt like a motherfucker and he could barely put weight on it. 

“Are you okay?” Steve asked him for the umpteenth time and James glared angrily at him.

“If you ask me that again I’ll punch you,” he growled. 

“Okay, okay,” Steve said and looked at Natasha, who nodded and left the room. “Buck, we… we’ll find him, okay?” 

James nodded. But he still had Coulson’s words in his mind. Was it true? Was he really that smitten because he had heard Clint sing? Steve stood in the living room for a few more seconds before he cleared his throat, turned and followed Natasha out of the room and the house. 

He watched him leave and glared at the door. The next time he would see Rumlow he would punch him in his teeth. But for now he had to stay here to play dead, to let the guy believe that he was drowned. He, Steve, Natasha and Coulson had talked about it and only Logan - and Bruce - knew that he wasn’t dead. 

It was frustrating. He really wanted to go with them to help them but he also understood that it was important to let Rumlow believe that he was dead. 

“Damnit,” he grumbled, grabbed his crutches and slowly rose. He managed to hobble to the stairs but then he discovered the next problem. He had no idea how to get to his bedroom upstairs. He glared at the stairs murderous as if it was their fault that he had a hole in his leg but after a long moment he hobbled back to the couch, flopped down again and shifted to lie back. He put a cushion under his head and shifted even more, still quietly grumbling under his breath. For a moment he closed his eyes, tried to sleep a bit. After all, it had been a long night. At first he was shot and thrown into the ocean to die, then he was saved by a mermaid and after Natasha had found him and Bruce had patched him up they spent the rest of the night at Coulson’s house. He could see the sun rise when he turned his head and sighed again. Yes, he was tired. He was more than tired but he couldn’t sleep. Not right now. Not when Clint was in danger and needed him. He just couldn’t…

James woke with a start when someone entered the living room. He looked around panicked but then his eyes fell on Sam and he dropped back in the cushions. Apparently he slept a few hours because the sun was already sinking again.

“Steve called me,” he said without greeting and sat down on the coffee table. “How are you?” 

“What do you think?” James pointed at his leg and the bandage around it.

“Rumlow did do that?” Sam leaned forward to take a closer look. James nodded. 

“He thinks I’m dead,” he said with a snort. Sam raised a brow. But before he could say something James continued. “Sam, I… he grabbed me on your boat. Have you… I mean… have you been at the marina yet? Is it okay?” 

“I don’t know. I came here directly,” he said. “Bucky, I love my boat, really, but it’s just a boat. As long as you’re alive and well, it’s okay. And by the way, if he had done something to my baby, I’ll skin Rumlow alive and make him eat his own hide.” He grinned. James couldn’t hold back a snort and Sam patted his shoulder. “So, is there something you need?” 

“Coffee would be nice,” he said and pointed at the crutches. “It’s not easy to carry a mug over here with them.” 

“Right,” Sam said and rose. He went into the kitchen and came back a few minutes later with two mugs, gave one to James and sat down, this time on one of the two armchairs. “Do you know where Steve and Natasha are?” 

“They wanted to meet Chief of Police Logan to find out if the… if the potential buyer is here already,” he said. “But I haven’t heard from them since they left,” he added then. Sam nodded and took a sip from his mug. 

“So, Rumlow knows about your special friend. How did that happen?” 

“He saw him with me and… it’s my fault,” he said and sat up. He put his mug down on the coffee table and reached for the crutches. “I have to…” Sam was faster than him. He grabbed him and shoved him back down on the couch and that hurt like a motherfucker because he landed on his injured leg. 

“Sorry, but you can’t leave. Steve told me I’m not supposed to let you go.” 

“But I need to help Clint. He…” he started but Sam stopped him with a gesture.

“You can’t help him in your current state, Buck. Let Steve and Natasha find him,” he said. James threw a hand over his eyes for a second and leaned back. 

“It’s my fault, Sam. If I… if I hadn’t gone back to meet him…” 

“You can’t know that, Bucky,” Sam said, took the mug James had placed on the coffee table and gave it back. 

“And do you know what’s the worst? Coulson said it’s all because I heard him sing. He said the voices of the mer are sort of addictive,” James snorted. He finally took a sip from his coffee and looked up at the other man. 

“Is it true? Are their voices addictive?” Sam wanted to know and James shrugged. 

“I don’t know. The only thing I know is that his voice is really beautiful when he sings, especially when it’s…” And then he stopped and stared at Sam open-mouthed and wide-eyed.

“Buck? Are you okay?” Sam sounded concerned. “Bucky?” 

“Yes! Yes, I… in the water, Sam,” he blurted and a huge grin split his face almost in two halves. 

“What? You’ve lost me there,” Sam said and frowned. 

“In the water, Sam! I heard him sing in the water, when he saved me. _That_ was the first time I heard him sing! Coulson is wrong!” When Sam still seemed a little lost, he added, “Coulson said, I like him because I heard him sing, because I’m addicted to his voice. But he’s wrong. The first time I heard him sing was when he saved me after Rumlow shot me. Do you understand what that means?” 

“That you’re lost because of your own free will?” Sam asked but this time the smirk was back. 

“Yes! Coulson is wrong!” James grinned broadly and tried to rise again.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, dude! What do you think where you’re going?” Sam stopped him immediately.

“I need to tell him that he’s wrong!” James said but Sam shook his head.

“You can’t call him. He’s with Steve, Nat and Logan to find out about the buyer.” He put his hands on James’ shoulders and pressed him back into the cushions. 

“But…” 

“Bucky,” Sam said and sighed. “I know there’s nothing more you want to do than to go out there and search for Clint. But you can’t even stand without crutches. Let Steve and Nat help you,” he added. James’ grin vanished and he leaned back and glared at him angrily but he knew that Sam was right. And he still had to play dead. 

“Fine! And what are we doing now?” He asked. 

“We’ll wait.” Sam said and rose. He grabbed James’ mug and pressed it into his hand, went to the cupboard to fetch Steve’s _’secret’_ bottle of Irish whiskey and poured a dash into the mug and sat back down. “Drink that.”

“Why does everyone want to get me drunk lately,” he muttered but he emptied the mug. 

“What do you think about a game of chess?” Sam asked after a long moment. James once more glared at him but then he huffed and sat up. 

“Why not. But you have to fetch it.” 

Sam grinned and rose and James poured another dash of whiskey into his now empty mug.

***

“Okay,” Logan huffed and threw the receiver back onto his old-fashioned phone. “That was Scott. He said there’s just an expensive looking car driven up to Rumlow Senior’s factory. He couldn’t see the passenger but he has the license plate number.”

Steve, who sat in front of his desk turned to him and cocked his head. Natasha was with Officer Summers right now but he, Steve, and Logan were back already. They had watched Rumlow’s house for a while but when nothing happened they went back to the police station. 

“You can find out who’s the owner, right?” Steve asked. Logan raised a brow and reached for his cigar to take a drag. 

“What do you think, Rogers?” He asked and turned to his _ancient_ computer and started to type very, very slow and with only one finger. 

“Do you want me to…” Steve offered but Logan only raised one finger and Steve closed his mouth. Logan continued to type and then he waited. 

“And?” Steve wanted to know when he eventually leaned back. 

“It takes a few minutes,” Logan said. 

“And what are we doing now?” He asked. Logan huffed and raised a brow.

“We wait,” he said and took another drag from his cigar. 

“But…” Steve started but he got interrupted when the computer beeped. Logan turned with his office chair and looked at the screen, cursed, typed some more (very, very slow) and huffed again. 

“It’s a rented car,” he said. “It’s been rented by a company called Asgard Corporation. You ever heard from them?” 

“No,” Steve shook his head. “Can you google them?” He asked.

Logan typed already on his computer. “Hmm,” he hummed, furrowed his brows and shoved his cigar from one corner of his mouth to the other. 

“What, Logan! What is?” Steve snapped now. He found his taciturnity unnerving. 

“What do you think wants one of the biggest international companies with a merman?” Logan pursed his lips. 

“I don’t know,” Steve said. “What do they do?”

“Apparently they own quite a few shipyards That’s not everything but the shipbuilding is their major revenue source,” he said. 

“Ships? What kind of ships do they build?” Steve wanted to know. He rose and went to look over his shoulder at the screen.

“They have some sites in a few European countries and they build the big cruise liners, but also yachts. Oh, and warships,” Logan said. Steve’s brows hit his hairline. 

“Oh my god, they are really loaded,” he blurted. Logan nodded slowly. 

“Apparently they are the fifth richest family in the world,” he confirmed. 

“But… but what do they want with Clint?” Steve asked now. 

“Are you sure they are here because of him? I mean, maybe Rumlow senior wants a new fishing trawler,” he said.

“Yeah, maybe,” Steve admitted. It was possible that Logan was right. Maybe it was harmless. But maybe it was not. He just wanted to say something when his phone beeped. He pressed a few buttons and read the message and then a smile appeared on his face. Logan scrutinized him and nodded once with his head to go on with what he tried to say.

“I have to go. My friend is here and he can help us. Can you tell Coulson that he’s here?” Steve said but he didn’t wait for Logan’s answer, he just hurried out of the room. He knew that Coulson and Officer Munroe watched Rumlow’s boat right now. But he needed the man at his house now. And he needed to be at home before his guest would arrive.

***

When someone knocked at the door Sam looked at James questioningly. But when he shrugged he rose. James rose, too, and hobbled into the kitchen. He didn’t close the door completely so that he could watch the front door. Sam nodded in his direction before he went to open.

“Hi,” he heard someone from outside. It was a man but he wasn’t close enough for him to see him. 

“Uhm… hi?” Sam frowned. 

“Steve asked me to come and here I am,” the man outside of the house said. 

“You are…” Sam blurted, his eyes comically wide, but the man interrupted him. 

“Yes, that’s me. Can I come in or are we going to stay here in the doorway?” The guy asked. James was curious now. Neither Steve nor Natasha wanted to tell him who that mysterious friend was he had called. 

“Yeah, of course.” Sam stepped aside and let the man in. And James recognized him immediately. It wasn’t too difficult, after all, the guy was in the news every other day. He wore an expensive suit and shades and looked around curiously.

“You’re Tony Stark!” James blurted and hobbled out into the living room. The man turned around with a flashing smile. 

“Yes, and you’re James, right?” he said. “So, where’s Steve?” He looked around again and took in his surroundings. 

“He’s… he’s with our chief of police,” James said and Stark raised a brow. 

“Do you want... “ Sam just started when they got interrupted by someone tear open the front door and a heavily breathing Steve stood there and looked around. 

“Hey,” he managed after a second. And Stark’s grin broadened, he turned to Steve, went to him and hugged him. Both, he and Sam, watched the scene and and shared glances. 

“I’m glad you could make it,” Steve said when they parted and he gestured at the couch. Stark went to an armchair, sat down and folded his legs. 

“Sure,” he said casually. James’ leg started to hurt and he hobbled back to the couch to sit down as well. “So, what’s so important that you had to drag me here? And why so secretive on the phone?” Stark wanted to know now. Steve looked up at Sam and the man sat down on the other armchair. Steve saw the bottle with whiskey on the table - James blushed violently - and went to fetch glasses before he sat down, too. He squeezed himself onto the couch beside James and filled all the glasses and handed them out to each one of them. 

“How’s Pepper doing?” Steve asked instead of an answer and Stark cocked his head.

“Oh, she’s the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said with a grin. “She runs the show so that I can concentrate on my tech.” 

“That’s good to hear.” Steve smiled. “Tony, I…” Steve started, stopped himself and took a long sip from his whiskey before he put the glass down on the coffee table. “I called you because I… we…” - he pointed at Sam and him, James - “... need your help.” 

“That much I figured out myself.” Stark grinned again. “Otherwise you would’ve visited me in Malibu like last time.” 

“Yeah,” Steve confirmed and blushed. “It’s… strange, okay?” 

“Strange? Okay, consider me curious,” Stark raised his brow again. That seemed to be one of his quirks, James realized. 

“We have a friend and he’s in danger and maybe you can help us with your unique talents,” Steve said. 

“And why is your friend not here? Don’t tell me it’s Tasha,” he said and now it was James who raised a brow. Interesting. Only Steve was allowed to call her Tasha. 

“No, it’s not Tasha,” Steve said and took a deep breath. “Our friend’s been kidnapped.” 

“Then you need to call the cops. Or the FBI,” Stark said. He took a small sip from his glass before he put it onto the coffee table, too. 

“Yes… no. I mean… we… Logan knows but… we can’t call the cops, Tony. Our friend is…” Steve wiped his face. 

“Come one, Stevie, what’s wrong with your friend? Is he a border jumper? Or a criminal?” The man wanted to know. 

“No, it’s…” Steve looked in his, James’, direction for a moment. “He’s different.” 

“Different how?” Stark sounded a little impatient already. “Tell me.” 

“He’s…” One last glance in James’ direction “He’s a merman.” Steve finally said it. 

Stark looked at him for a very long moment and then he started to laugh. “Yeah, right, Steve,” he said and wiped his eye. “For a moment I thought you said he’s a merman.” 

“That’s because it’s true,” James said now, completely earnest. Stark still grinned but when his gaze flicked from him to Steve and to Sam and back both his brows hit his hairline. 

“Oh my god, you’re serious, are you?” He jumped out of the armchair and ran both hands through his hair. 

“Honestly, Tony, if you’d asked me a few weeks earlier, I would’ve laughed with you,” Steve said, reached for Stark’s glass and gave it to him and this time he emptied in one gulp. “But it’s true.” 

“No,” Stark shook his head. “That’s not possible. Something like… like mermaids doesn’t exist. It’s…” 

“... not scientifically verifiable?” Steve finished his sentence and Stark nodded. 

“There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dream’t of in your Philosophy,” Sam muttered and Stark glared at him now. 

“Don’t quote the bard on me,” he snapped. He started to pace in their living room. “So…” he licked his lips. “So, you know a… a _merman_...” - he made air-quotes - “... and he’s been kidnapped. And… what do you want from me?” 

“Have you ever hear from Asgard corporation?” Steve asked and Stark stopped his pacing for a moment to glare at Steve and snort. 

“Actually, I have,” he spat and it sounded as if he would talk about something disgusting. “It’s a Norwegian company, led by Odin Borson and his two sons, Thor and Loki.” He reached for the bottle of whiskey to refill his glass before he started to pace again. “We - that means Stark International - had to deal with them a few times. Not always in a friendly manner, they are ruthless. Their main branch is still the shipyard in Trondheim where they are from but they have sites in a few more countries in Europe and they get more and more involved in other branches, too. They have an automobile factory in Poland and a pharmaceutical company in France, they build computers and phones and nowadays they try to establish themselves in the green energy sector,” he explained, gesturing around with his hand with the whiskey glass. “I’ve heard the younger son, Loki, moved to New York last year. His newest project is a run down telecom company they’ve bought a year ago.” 

“You had to deal with a shipyard?” Steve asked and frowned. Stark shook his head.

“Well, they build not only cruise liners, Stevie. They build warships, too, and warships need weapons,” he said. “And now that SI stopped to build weapons we still have to deal with them since _they_ began to establish themselves in the green energy sector.” 

“Okay,” Steve said. “But why do you think is someone from the Asgard corporation here with Rumlow?” 

“Who’s here?” Stark’s head snapped around and James sat up straight. Steve never said anything about someone visiting Rumlow. 

“I don’t know. Tasha and Officer Summers saw a rented car in front of Rumlow senior’s factory and Logan checked the license plate. It’s rented by Asgard corporation. So, one of them is here,” he said. 

“Maybe they just want a new trawler?” Sam said and Steve turned to him, a brow raised.

“You know, that was what Logan said,” he said. 

“No,” Stark shook his head. “If you want to buy a ship you go to them if you’re not the military or a sheik,” he said. “If it’s true that your… _friend_... is a… a merman,” he took a deep breath, “then they are here for him.” 

“How do you know?” James wanted to know now. 

“I don’t know if it’s true but I’ve heard that their family tree goes back to Erik the Red and beyond. They are obsessed with their heritage and the sea in general since… ever,” he said and threw his hands in the air. “If there’s a chance that it’s true… then I’m pretty sure that I know who wants to have your friend. And he’s not a nice guy.”


	8. Chapter 8

Cilinth’s mouth was painfully dry when he came around again. His lips hurt, his whole body, too. He had a cramp in his tail and no chance to stretch it out. His hands were numb and the rope around his wrists had chafed the skin. And his head hurt like hell. When the men had pulled him up, one of them shot with a strange weapon at him and then there was pain everywhere. He had screamed and lost consciousness till just now. 

He tried to move his hands but it was impossible. He looked up and saw a grating over the small box the men had put him in. They had tied his hands to the grating, thread them through it and wrapped rope around them. His tail was almost folded in half and it hurt. 

Cilinth tried to move but the box was too small and the little bit water in it couldn’t keep his skin wet. He was thirsty, everything was so dry around him. The scales on his tail already started to lose their color and the sun shone into the box, dried him out even more. 

And Buckee, he was hurt. The men hurt him because of him, Cilinth. Maybe Buckee was dead, maybe Baowrbai couldn’t find him, couldn’t save him, maybe she was too far away to get him out of the water. The Fjiourie was right. It was wrong to go back to Buckee, to meet him. He had endangered him and now… maybe he was dead. Cilinth almost sobbed. He would never forgive himself if Buckee was dead. 

Yes, it was selfish to go and meet him after he and his clansmates pulled him out of the water the first time. He had been too reckless, too curious, swam too close to their ship and then he entangled himself in their nets. But this man, the man he’d seen so often from underwater, Buckee, he seemed so alone, so sad even when he was with his clansmates. 

And when he was trapped in their nets, pulled onto their boat it was Buckee who helped him, who tried to calm him. Buckee was such a nice man… for a landwalker. He swam back to the place where it happened the next day and Buckee was here, he waited… waited for _him_. He gave him a knife, a beautiful knife, better than all those whalebone knives they usually had. It was made of real metal. Only the Fjiourie had a knife made of metal.

The Fjiourie was right. Baowrbai was right. It was too dangerous to meet Buckee and now… now he was injured and he, Cilinth, was captured.

He tried to shift a bit in the box but it was so painful and this time he couldn’t hold back the groan. And then he startled when a hand slammed onto the grating, just a few inches beside his tied hands. He looked up to see one of the men grinning at him. 

“Still alive, fishface?” He snarled. Cilinth turned his head away, looked at the strange insides of the box they had locked him in instead up to the man. He would not give them the satisfaction to react to their insults. 

“Shut your trap, Griffin,” another man said and looked at him, too. He still didn’t look up but he could see the man’s shadow. It was nice to be out of the burning sun for a moment he had to admit. “Didn’t I tell you to put water in the freezer?” 

“There _is_ water in it, boss,” the man, Griffin said. 

“It’s a fish! It needs more water, you moron! Do you want to kill it?” Cilinth heard a slap but he didn’t look up. Why were these men so cruel to him? He hadn’t done anything to them. He had seen them only once before and now they had locked him in a small box. He knew that his clan had nothing to do with them so there was no reason to capture him.

“It’s very valuable, I don’t want it to die.” 

Why did they call him _it_? He was not an it, he was a mer, a man. What did he do that they disliked him so much? What did he do that they hurt him so much? Why did they hurt Buckee? And what did ‘valuable’ mean? 

Cilinth didn’t look up and so he startled again when one of the men dumped a bucket of water over him. He gasped and shook his head to get the water out of his eyes. And only a few moments later more water was poured over him. This time he was prepared, though, and he tried to get a bit of the water into his mouth. But he spat it out the next moment. They had poured seawater into the box. Even if he lived in the ocean, he needed fresh water to drink. His clan knew a few sources but apparently these men thought he would drink seawater. 

No one could see the tears that run along his cheeks, together with the salty water. Yes, he was scared because he still had no idea why he was here. Or even where _here_ was. The ground the box stood on swayed so they were either on a boat or… or the ground swayed. He had no idea about _the ground_ but maybe it was possible that it swayed. He hadn’t been completely out of the ocean for more than a few minutes since he was a small child, he couldn’t remember it. 

“Boss, he’s here,” someone said. Cilinth could hear a boat so they probably were on the ocean. That meant his family was so close and yet so far. He was locked in a box and they swam in the water beneath the boat he was on. Maybe they searched for him and didn’t know that he was so close… so close. Another tear ran over his face and he could barely hold back the sob. Everything hurt and he was alone and scared. 

Men walked away, the boat swayed even more and then they came back.

“You’ll be thrilled, Mr. Odinson,” the one everyone called boss said. 

“I hope you have not exaggerated, Rumlow,” a low voice answered and a shiver ran down over Cilinth’s skin. 

“No, definitely not,” the first voice said.

“Why did you put it in a freezer?” 

“It’s waterproof and big enough to hold it,” the first voice chuckled and then two shadows fell onto him again. 

“Is this… is this real?” the second man gasped. His voice sounded strange but Cilinth still refused to look at them. 

“You can touch it.” Cilinth swallowed hard. No, he didn’t want them to touch him, he wanted them to leave him alone. He flinched when someone touched the grating, touched his hands. But whoever it was, they just untied him and removed the grating. Rough hands grabbed him and dragged him out of the small box. Cilinth started to struggle immediately, he bit one of the men in the hand and got slapped for it but they let him drop onto the ground. He stifled a moan.

“Jeff, what the fuck! Hold it!” Someone yelled. Cilinth used his fluke to attack the man close to him. The man didn’t expect him to use his tail to fight and literally ran into the hit with full force. Cilinth tried to get away, tried to get to the railing because he could see the water, the ocean but they were so many and he was alone. And the fact that he had been locked into the small box wasn’t helpful at all. He still had cramps in his tail and couldn’t get away fast enough. Rough hands grabbed him and he trilled in panic; he hoped one of his clansmates was close enough to hear him. 

“Quick little bastard,” the one with the hair in his face said. Cilinth struggled but the men held him and he got slapped into his face. This time he couldn’t stifle the painful sound. 

“Oh my god,” a man with long, dark hair said and hunkered down in front of him. “It _is_ real, isn’t it?” He reached out for Cilinth to touch him but Cilinth didn’t want him to touch him. He twisted in the men’s grip and tried to get out of his reach. 

“Hold it, goddammit!” The man with the hair in his face snarled but Cilinth didn’t give up, he wriggled and went through all sorts of contortions but then one of the men grabbed his fluke and held it. Cilinth trilled and tried to bite the man who held his left arm again but another man reached for his hair. 

“It’s not trained yet,” the man said and the black haired man, who hunkered beside him now, nodded slowly. 

“I can see that,” he drawled and reached out again. And this time he touched his tail, let his hand run over Cilinth’s scales and his lateral fin. His hand was dry and a little cold and Cilinth didn’t like it, didn’t like it at all. He still struggled. “I can feel the muscles,” the man muttered. Cilinth stilled immediately and glared at him. “It’s amazing.”

“I’ve told you it’s real, Mr. Odinson,” the man with the hair in his face said. 

Cilinth wasn’t familiar with most of the landwalker’s expression but he knew this one. It was the one he had seen on the faces of other mer when they realized that the Shileth Clan had more than one fresh water sources. This expression he knew: greed. The man called Mr. Odinson saw something he wanted and he wanted it badly. And apparently he wanted him, Cilinth. 

“You said it can talk?” Mr. Odinson said and looked at the man with the hair in his face again. 

“We’ve heard it talk,” he said and nodded his head. He directed his eyes on him now. “Come on, fishface, say something.” 

Cilinth held his eyes but he refused to speak. He knew it was what these men wanted but he only gritted his teeth and pressed his lips together. 

“Talk!” The man snarled now. Cilinth pretended that he couldn’t understand him and just continued to glare at him. But the man reached down now, grabbed his lateral fin and twisted it. Cilinth shrieked and started to struggle again. It hurt like hell. “Talk!” The man repeated and this time he pulled at the fin. Cilinth shrieked even more and trilled as loud as possible. 

“Stop that, Rumlow,” Mr. Odinson snapped. “If you injure it I’ll reduce the price.” 

He let go of Cilinth’s fin and the mer slumped down, close to tears. Why did they hurt him? He had never met them before, why did they hate him?

“We all have heard it talk, Mr. Odinson,” the man called Rumlow said now. Mr. Odinson nodded his head again. 

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t want it to converse with it,” he said. His expression was that of greed again. 

“Sooo… you _want_ it, right?” Rumlow asked now. He threw a glance in Cilinth’s direction and the mer shivered again. 

“Of course. Ten millions you’ve said?” Mr. Odinson rose and turned to Rumlow. The men who held Cilinth rose, too, and dragged him back to the box. _’No, please, not the box again,’_ he pleaded silently but the men hoisted him up already. Cilinth struggled, tried to fight but their grips were too tight and only a short moment later they had shoved him back into the box. They put the grating over it again and reached for his hands to tie them but Cilinth bit the first hand that was close to him. 

“Leave it,” Rumlow said. “It can’t get out of the freezer anyway.” 

“My plane is in Coldwater at the airport. I’ll fly back tomorrow, 6 am.” Mr. Odinson said and looked into the freezer, smiled at him possessively. 

“No problem,” Rumlow grinned. “It’ll be there, Mr. Odinson.”. Cilinth had no idea what a plane was. But it sounded scary. He also didn’t know that landwalkers could fly. He had seen them only walk around on the ground or on their boats and ships on the ocean.

Mr. Odinson reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, black pouch and gave it to Rumlow. 

“Five millions in diamonds. You get the rest when he’s aboard my plane,” he drawled. And then Cilinth could hear people walk away.

“Griffin, drive back with them. Get the truck ready and don’t forget the forklift. The damn freezer is really heavy,” Rumlow said. 

“Sure, boss.” 

The man with the facial hair looked into Cilinth’s box again and grinned. “Soon, fishface.” 

Cilinth had no idea what that meant. He just looked at him, swallowed and wrapped his arms around himself. 

At first he heard another boat drive away and then this one started to move. Cilinth reached up, tried to get out of the box but the grating didn’t move. It refused to give way. 

_’Help, clansmates! I need your help!’_ He thought. But of course they couldn’t hear him. 

He had no idea how long they drove but after a while he heard strange noises, more people, something loud rattling. He tried to sit up a bit more but the cramps in his tail were so bad right now, he couldn’t move.

When the box started to shake he panicked, he started to shriek and to thrash in the box. 

“Goddammit! It freaks out, boss!” Someone yelled. It didn’t take long and the man with the facial hair appeared above him. 

“Get it out, it’s injuring itself!” The man snapped. The grating disappeared, hands grabbed him and dragged him out of the box again. Cilinth struggled and fought but then something pierced his skin at the shoulder. It hurt and he wriggled even more. 

“Hold it! Hold it, the sedative will work in a few seconds,” Rumlow said. 

Cilinth had no idea what a sedative was but he realized that his head felt strange, everything became blurry and his movements became sluggish. 

“Sweet dreams, fishface,” Rumlow snickered. “When you wake up again you’re in your new home in Norway.”

_‘Buckee!’_ he thought before everything went dark.


	9. Chapter 9

The phone rang two times before Steve grabbed the receiver. “Yes… uh-hu… really?... okay…. yes, I understand… sure… no, that’s… yes, thank you.” 

James rose from his spot on the couch and hobbled over to him. “Please, tell me that was Logan!”

“Yes, it was Logan. He said, he knows someone in Coldwater and they thold him there’s a private plane at the airport.” 

“Coldwater? Oh my god. Is he there? Is Clint there? Has anyone…” James rambled, but Steve stopped him. 

“Logan says he can’t just get into the security zone without any proof. But the plane will stay there till tomorrow,” Steve explained. “With the cliffs it’s too dangerous for a plane to start at night.” 

“We have to get there, Steve. We have to… someone needs to get into that plane. I… I can’t…” James turned around to look at Natasha. “Nat, please. You…” 

“Calm down, Bucky,” Steve said. “We have to think what we do now. The plane can’t leave until tomorrow, so we have a few hours.” 

“We should call Coulson,” James suggested and looked around. 

Stark… Tony, who sat at their dining table and typed away on his state-of-the-art computer, “Ha!”-ed, grinned and leaned back. 

“Their security feed was astoundingly difficult encrypted, but here we are,” he said, wiped at the screen and some blue _screen_ appeared above the computer. When Sam’s eyes went wide, Tony smirked. “Hologram screen. I have the patent for it for two years now,” he explained. 

“Cool,” Sam muttered, but then they concentrated on the feed they could see on the screen. 

It showed them a plane with the Asgard Corporation logo on the empennage. There was an airlader beside the plane and the door was closed. But the light inside was on. 

“Can you get closer?” Steve asked. Tony shook his head. 

“No, their cameras are crap,” he said. “Can you see the guards?” He pointed at the screen and both, Steve and James nodded. 

“Yes,” Steve said and frowned. “Why does Asgard Corporation need so many of them around their plane?” 

“Because they don’t want anyone to see what they have inside,” James snapped angrily. “We have to get there. We have to get him out.” 

“We can’t just get in, Buck,” Steve said. “First, there are guards and second, we’re fishermen and no soldiers.” 

“Logan… Logan can get in, he can search the plane,” James said and looked around. 

“For what reason?” Sam asked now. “He just can’t get there and demand to search them.” 

“Well, kidnapping would be a good start,” James said, with dripping sarcasm in his voice. 

“Clint is not a… a human,” Steve said. “I… I don’t think…” 

“What? Because he has no legs but a fishtail means he can be treated like an animal? Can be captured and sold and…” He spat but Steve’s arm on his stopped him. 

“That wasn’t what I meant,” he said. “What I meant is, Logan needs a search warrant and what do you think he should tell a judge? Sir, I think that Asgard Corporation tries to kidnap a merman and we need to search their plane? Do you think that would work?” Steve said. James deflated slightly.

“No, but… we have to do something. We… we can’t just let him get away with Clint,” James said, almost pleaded. 

“I know,” Steve said now. “But we need a plan,” he added. 

“Stevie’s right,” Tony said now. He had typed away on his keyboard as long as they _discussed_ but he swiped over the screen again and the scenery changed. “This happened earlier that evening,” he said and they all watched the screen now. 

 

_Loki left the car he had rented. The driver had opened the door and waited quietly. His security staff was positioned around the plane and waited patiently. He had payed the personnel here a fortune to separate this part of the small airport for him and his plane. No one was allowed to enter and his own staff took care of this. Yorick Nygård, his security chief, came over to him._

_“Everything is prepared for your delivery, sir,” he said in Norwegian. Loki nodded and gestured for him to show him. Nygård went to the open cargo hatch and went in._

_They had installed a bigger tank for the merman so he wouldn’t injure himself during flight. It was four yards in each direction and they had installed a grating on top so the merman couldn’t leave it. Usually they used a smaller tank for the fishes and other marine animals, seldom creatures for his own aquarium, but now… now he couldn’t wait to see the merman in this one. It was transparent on one side so he could watch him easily._

_“Perfect,” Loki said and nodded. “Rumlow will be here in a short while. Make sure that nobody interrupts us.”_

_“We already took care of that,” Nygård said. “No one can enter this area, we have cordoned it off.”_

_Loki nodded again. “Good work, Mr. Nygård,” he smiled. “Call me when the truck arrives. I’m inside the plane, I have some work to do.”_

_“Of course, Mr. Odinson,” Nygård said._

_He left the cargo area and went to the airstairs, entered his plane and went to his office. Of course he had an office in it, he had to spend way too much time in this plane to waste it._

_He had just called a few people in New York because of his new telecom company, his newest project, when Nygård knocked at the door._

_“Sir, your delivery is here,” he said. Loki nodded, finished his call and put the receiver back on the phone. He couldn’t hold back the smile on his face when he thought about_ his _merman._

_He left the plane and saw a truck from a canned fish company arrive. Loki shook his head with a smirk. Rumlow had a weird sense of humour, he had to admit._

_“Mr. Nygård, please show him the way,” he said and went down the airstairs. Nygård followed him but then he passed him, waved at the truck that he should follow him to the cargo hatch. It was still open and two men - one of them Rumlow - left the vehicle._

_“Mr. Odinson,” Rumlow greeted him when he came over to them, too. He smiled smugly and rubbed his hands. The other man walked around the truck, opened the doors and went in. Nygård went with him._

_“Did everything go well?” Loki asked and Rumlow nodded._

_“No one followed us, no one knows where we are,” he said. “And no one knows that the fishface even exist,” he added then. But when Loki glared at him, his grin vanished. “Sorry,” he added quickly._

_“Let’s get him into the plane,” Loki said and went to the end of the truck, where the man and Nygård had the freezer already on a pallet jack. It stood on a pallet and a blanket lay over the grating to shield the tank from curious glances. Nygård and Rumlow’s man dragged it onto the loading platform. The man went to a remote, pressed a button and lowered the platform._

_Loki was excited. Soon the merman was in his plane and he could bring him to his country residence outside of New York. The place was a fortress and no one could enter if he didn’t want them to. When he moved to America he had brought his personal aquarium with him, lots of huge tanks with very rare fishes and marine animals and soon… soon a real merman, too. So, yes, Loki was very excited._

_The merman trilled when the platform arrived at the ground and Nygård and Rumlow’s man started to move the freezer again. He wasn’t sure but he sounded scared and - as weird as it may sound - Loki understood him. He would be scared, too. But that didn’t let him stop them._

_With the pallet jack they shoved the freezer up the ramp into the cargo area of the plane and as close to the big tank as possible. Rumlow and Loki followed them into the plane._

_Nygard lowered the forks of the pallet jack and Rumlow went to the freezer and removed the blanket._

_“Som bare faen!” cursed Nygård. Of course Loki had told him about a maritime rarity he had purchased, but the man had no idea what it was. And now he saw a merman for the first time in his life and he was pale like a sheet. He looked up at Loki disbelievingly._

_“It’s real,” he said in Norwegian._

_The merman in the freezer moved frantically, he trashed around as far as possible, tried to free his hands which were still tied to the grating. He trilled panicky. Loki went closer, saw his eyes wide with fear._

_“Untie his hands,” he commanded. His wrists were badly chafed and bled. Rumlow furrowed his brows._

_“But then we have to move him quickly,” he said. “He’s… slippery,” he grinned again about his own joke._

_“Mr. Nygård,” Loki said and nodded at the man. He was still pale, but he was a professional. Rumlow drew a knife and cut off the ropes that held the merman’s hands and as soon as they were loose, he pulled them close to his body._

_Rumlow’s co-worker unlocked the grating but still held it closed. He looked at Nygård. “You have to be fast,” he said. “He’ll probably try to flee.”_

_“Flee?” Nygård asked incredulously. “How? It… he doesn’t have legs.”_

_“His tail is very… effective. He hit one of my men and he almost went over board,” Rumlow answered, a smirk on his face. “Just... when the grating is open, we grab him. Can you please open the tank?” The last question was for Loki, who nodded and climbed up the few steps to do as told._

_“On three,” Rumlow’s man said. “One, two,” he counted and then opened the grating at, “three!”_

_Both, Rumlow and Nygård reached into the box, tried to grab the merman’s arms but - as they had said - he was quick. He had turned in his tank, used his tail to hit them and tried to escape, but the time locked in the tank drained him of his strength and Nygård and Rumlow grabbed his arms. The merman trilled again panicky and struggled._

_“Come on, Griffin, take his fluke,” Rumlow breathed. But the man was already on his way and only a few seconds later, they had the merman in their grip and he couldn’t get away anymore. Loki went down the stairs beside the tank and stopped beside the three men._

_“Wait,” he said and they did as told. He could see the glances Rumlow and his man shared but he didn’t care. Loki couldn’t resist, he reached out and cupped the merman’s cheek, wiped away a tear with his thumb. His skin was warm, dry… and incredibly soft. He tried to turn away his face but then Loki stepped back, nodded at Nygård and the three man continued their way to the tank. The merman struggled again but in the end he had no chance. And soon the grating on the big tank fell shut above him and Nygård locked it._

_The men stepped down and all of them breathed heavily._

_“Good job,” Loki said but he couldn’t look away from the tank. The merman swam at the surface, tried to rattle the grating but it was solid. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Nygård stare at the tank, too._

_“Som bare faen!” he whispered again._

_“Mr. Odinson,” Rumlow interrupted them and Loki turned his head to look at him. “We have to leave.”_

_“Sure,” he said and gestured at the men to leave the cargo area. All four of them walked around to the airstairs, and they wiped at their wet clothes while walking. Loki went to his office, removed a painting, opened the safe behind it and took a small pouch with untraceable diamonds out of it before he locked it again. He walked down the stairs and saw Nygård, a cigarette in his hand and Rumlow’s man lighting it. Loki knew, he had quit smoking years ago but apparently to see a real merman called for a smoke._

_“Here,” Loki dropped the pouch in Rumlow’s hand. “The rest of the payment.”_

_“Thanks,” Rumlow smirked. “It was a pleasure doing business with you,” he said._

_“And if you ever get your hands on another… rarity… let me know,” Loki smiled and Rumlow’s smirk turned into a grin._

_“Sure thing, Mr. Odinson,” he said. They shook hands, then Rumlow and his man went into the truck and drove away. Nygård threw the butt of his cigarette onto the ground and stepped on it. He was still pale like a sheet._

_“No one can ever know about this,” Loki said. “You, me, Rumlow and his goon are the only four people who know about it and it has to stay this way.”_

_Nygård scrutinized him for a moment before he nodded. “You know me, sir,” he said. And it was true. He worked for Loki for years and in all his time he was loyal and relatable. He wouldn’t tell anyone. Loki made a mental note to double his christmas bonus this year._

_“I know,” he said and patted the man’s shoulder. “Okay, you can clock out. I’ll go to my new_ fish _.”_

_“Good night, sir,” Nygård said and went into the plane. Loki waited till he was gone, but then he went back to the cargo area. He climbed up the stairs beside the tank, leaned his arms on the wall to watch the merman inside of the tank._

_As soon as the merman spotted him he swam away from the grating but not without moving his fluke so Loki was dripping wet. He swam into one of the lower corners and glared up at Loki, his eyes full of hate._

_Loki wiped away the water, but he didn’t move back. Quite the contrary. Now he had a chance to watch the merman properly. His scales were a blue-ish purple and he had gills behind his ears. Even through the water he could see them quiver. When he moved his tail to stay in his corner strong muscles worked beneath the scales. Loki really looked forward to see him in one of his huge tanks he had behind his residence. It would be awesome._

_And then, he had to see if Rumlow was right, if the merman could speak, could understand him. He would love to speak with him. He had called the administrator of his estate to make sure he had a place for the merman._

_“Do you have a name?” He asked the water surface. He wasn’t sure if the merman could hear him, he was still at the bottom of the tank. “Maybe I should give you a name then?”_

_The merman didn’t move out of his corner, he just moved his tail to stay where he was._

_“Hmmm, in the Norse Mythology we call mermen Marbendlar. Maybe I should call you that? What do you think?”_

_He wasn’t sure but it seemed as if the merman cocked his head slightly. “You’ve heard that name before?”_

_The merman looked away._

_“All right, then Marbendlar it is,” Loki smiled. “I’ll leave you alone now. Don’t waste your energy with trying to get away. The lock is unbreakable. Just… relax, Marbendlar.”_

_Loki left the cargo area, walked up the airstairs and went to cockpit to close the hatch. The pilot had showed him how to do it some time ago. When it was closed he went to his office, folded out the couch, fetched blanket and cushion from a cupboard and lay down. And only a few minutes later he slept with a smile on his face._

 

“Could anyone see what they shoved in the plane?” Sam asked when nothing happened for a long moment. 

“It looked like a… like a… freezer,” Steve said and swallowed hard.

“Oh god, do you think they put him in this thing?” James blurted and wiped his face with one hand. 

“It… seems so,” Tony said slowly. “I guess, that’s why they put a blanket over it.” 

But before James could say more they got interrupted by a knock at the door. Steve went and opened the door. It was Coulson. 

“You wanted to see me?” He said as soon as he was inside of the living room. When he saw all the people sitting and standing around he raised a brow. 

“Phil, this is Tony Stark,” Steve introduced Tony. “You know the others.” 

“Tony Stark?” Coulson frowned. “ _The_ Tony Stark?” 

Tony rose with one of his flashy smiles on his lips. “The one and only,” he said and shook Phil’s hand. Phil looked at Steve and raised his brow again. 

“We… know each other from university,” Steve said and gestured at an armchair. Phil nodded and sat down. 

“We know where Clint is,” James said as soon as Phil’s ass hit the armchair. “But we can’t get there.” 

“You told him?” Phil asked and gestured at Tony. 

“It was necessary,” Steve said and he continued when Phil wanted to say something. “I trust him,” he added. Phil scrutinized Tony for a long moment. 

“Okay,” he said then. Tony raised a brow at Steve and Steve just shrugged. 

“Right,” Tony sighed when Steve didn’t say a word. “Like James here said, we know where your friend is, we just can’t get there,” he turned to type on his keyboard, the holographic screen appeared again and they showed Phil what they found earlier. 

“Oh my god,” Phil was pale like a sheet when he saw the small box. “Did they force Cilinth inside of this freezer?” 

“It seems so,” Tony said. “Otherwise all those security goons wouldn’t make sense.” And then, after a moment he added, “Cilinth?” 

“Cilinathan we Shileth,” Coulson said. “That’s his name. But we call him Cilinth. At least, the ones who can pronounce it,” he threw a glance at James who blushed immediately. 

“He likes Clint,” James muttered.

“There are more of them, right?” Tony wanted to know. Phil scrutinized him again. 

“Not as many as you would think. They are dying out. The Shileth clan was once one of the biggest clans with more than thousand mer and now they’re fifty-three. We think that there are less than five thousand mer left,” he explained. 

“Why?” Tony asked.

Phil pinched the bridge of his nose. “Maritime pollution, overfishing, extensive seatravel, lots of them got killed,” he said. Tony nodded slowly. 

“Okay, so let’s make sure the clan doesn’t have fifty-two members in the future,” he said then. 

“But what can we do?” 

Tony typed at his keyboard, and the holographic screen showed the scene where the men left the cargo area of the plane and at a certain point he stopped it. “Okay, I don’t know these two goons,” he said and pointed at Rumlow and Griffin, “but this guy is Loki Odinson, younger son of Odin Borson, owner and CEO of Asgard Corporation.” He rose from his chair and started to pace. “I had one or the other encounter with him and he’s… how do I say this nicely… he’s an A-grade asshole. He would sell his own mother without blinking twice to get what he wants. If he has your friend…” he stopped and shook his head, “We have to get him away from him as fast as possible.” 

“That’s what I said,” James hissed and wanted to say more. But Tony’s raised finger stopped him.

“This guy,” he pointed at the fourth man, “Is Yorick Nygård, his security chief. He’s been with the Marinejegerkommandoen, a Norwegian special warfare unit, before Loki hired him.” 

“How do you know that?” Sam asked and Tony pursed his lips for a moment.

“He’s one of the best in his field and… I tried to woo him away a few years ago but to no avail, he’s absolutely loyal.” 

“I’ve heard of the MJK,” Coulson said. “I wouldn’t want to piss them off. They’re really good.”

“Hmm, that’s not good,” Steve mused. “And I guess the rest of his security staff is well trained, too.” 

“I can check them, but Loki wouldn’t hire someone who’s only mediocrity,” Tony said. “Let’s just assume they are really good.” 

“Okay, but what can we do?” James asked now. 

“I think we should call Logan,” Coulson suggested. “We need a plan and… he’s the chief of police and it can be helpful to have him here.” 

“And maybe Natasha, too,” Steve added. 

“Okay,” James said. “Let’s get them, let’s make a plan but we have to be fast.” 

“Unfortunately, true,” Tony nodded. 

“I’ll make coffee,” Sam threw in. “I get the feeling we’ll need it.”

**Author's Note:**

> [asamandra on tumblr](http://asamandra.tumblr.com/)


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